


Stop (The Love You Save)

by ken_ichijouji (dommific)



Series: Water park 'verse [1]
Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: F/M, M/M, birthday series - waterpark 'verse, waterpark verse - part 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-17
Updated: 2009-12-16
Packaged: 2017-10-17 06:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/173666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dommific/pseuds/ken_ichijouji





	1. Chapter 1

_**Fic: Stop (The Love You Save) Chapter One: Chekov**_  
Title: Stop (The Love You Save)  
Series: Star Trek Reboot  
Rating: PG-13, for swearing and some innuendo stuff in chapters one and three  
Pairings: As with everything I do for this fandom, the road leads to Kirk/Bones. We also have Spock/Uhura, Kirk/Chekov, Scotty/Uhura, and Sulu/Awesome.  
So how exactly did each of our favorite seven crew members celebrate their first birthday during the start of the five year mission? In no order, we have a rager, a quiet dinner, a pub crawl, a surprise party, a formal event, a restaurant booked in San Francisco, and a special visitor. This also answers the question...how exactly _did_ Jim fall in love with his best friend?

This is a prequel to “Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance).” It starts five weeks into the five year mission and ends a month before “Variations on a Theme.”

Yes, this fic is named after the [Jackson Five song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYexVjOjGYA). The Jackson Five were awesome, and I will love them until the day I die.

Warnings: Alcohol abuse of the partying variety. Uhura being freaked out. Vulcan flutists. Scotty singing. Some truly aww-worthy happy moments of fluff. Spock acting like everyone's mom. Chekov cheating. Swearing. Sulu being awesome. Dirty dancing. Jim being introspective. Red velvet cake. Bones crying. The usual.

According to Memory Alpha, here are everyone's ages as of being assigned to the Enterprise in the movie:  
Kirk: 25  
McCoy: 31  
Chekov: 17  
Sulu: 21 (WHAT THE HELL HOW IS HE THAT YOUNG JOHN CHO IS LIKE FORTY FOR GOD'S SAKE)  
Scotty: 36 (Probably the oldest person on the ship. Sad but true.)  
Spock: 26  
Uhura: Apparently a lady never tells. For my personal canon, she's 22.

Relevant to this chapter: Chekov is like seventeen, not five. Naïve Chekov is cute and all, but let's be honest here. What kind of behavior were we engaging in at seventeen? Yeah, that's what I thought.

  
You only turn eighteen once.

The way things were going, that was probably something for which the crew of the USS Enterprise would be profoundly grateful.

They were five weeks into the five year mission when James T. Kirk had found out that his lead navigator and Russia's answer to Pikachu, Pavel Chekov, was due to turn eighteen that Friday. He had further become outraged when he found out that there was nothing planned. A milestone such as that and no one was doing anything? Not on _his_ ship.

After making some quick requisitions, sending out a ship-wide email, and with an assist from Scotty and the beverage machines, he had every thing set in a record time. It was not only the first big party of their mission, but it was a very special occasion and the captain insisted that attendance was mandatory.

Which is how Leonard McCoy found himself walking into the rec room on deck five with a wrapped present tucked under one arm.

The room was the sight of a rager the likes of which those in Starfleet had seldom seen. There was a bar of nothing but different flavors and types of vodka, from Belvedere to Blavod. Loud electronic music could be heard all the way in the medical wing and people were dancing everywhere, including on the furniture. Dozens of people were doing shots or holding martinis while mingling. It was loud, it was flashy, and it was insane.

The star of the night was busy on the makeshift dance floor partnered up with Janice Rand. Being a marathoner had its perks and he hadn't taken a break once since the party had begun an hour before. Chekov loved dancing, especially to the garish pop that was pumping through the stereo system.

“Bones!” Jim suddenly shouted from across the room where he was talking to Sulu and Uhura. “Hey you made it!” He quickly ran over and clapped McCoy once on the shoulder. “Here, let me get that and put it with the others.” The two men carefully attempted to make their way to the table with the presents, which was overflowing. It was more challenging than it looked, almost every off-duty crew-member was packed into the room.

“You know, when you said 'come to Chekov's party, it's going to be awesome,' this is not at all what I pictured.” Bones neatly dodged knocking into a girl jumping onto a table to dance with a friend. He balked for a moment when he realized they were Quinn and Chapel, two members of his nursing staff. “Although in retrospect, I feel I should have known better. I feel obligated to point out that this isn't a party so much as you somehow opening the Gates of Hell.”

“Oh come on, Bones, it's his _eighteenth_ birthday, he's far away from home and his family. Don't you remember how you were when you were eighteen? I did stuff like this all the time. Starfleet officer or not, the least we can do is show Chekov a good time, right guys? _YEAH_!”

The crowd all shouted and cheered with their captain. Bones rolled his eyes.

“You're going to owe the cleaning crew a million credits each to deal with this mess.” He suddenly was shoved into from behind. “Hey, watch it!”

“I apologize, I was unable to move in time so as to avoid a collision.” Spock and Bones made eye contact. “Doctor.” Bones inclined his head in a greeting.

“You look like you're having as much fun as I am,” Bones placed his hands on his hips.

“I have rarely seen a display of such hedonistic behavior.”

“Didn't party much at the Academy, did you?”

“That is a table. Dancing on such an accoutrement is extremely illogical and unsafe, come down immediately,” Spock shouted over the music to the two nurses. Either they honestly had not heard him or he was being ignored because they just kept rolling right along. Spock raised an eyebrow in the Vulcan equivalent of saying _you fucking children_. Remembering himself, he looked back at McCoy. “To answer your question, no I did not...party, although I know it is something that Nyota has enjoyed on occasion. From the way you are speaking, it sounds as if you cannot say the same.”

“I'd somehow let Jim talk me into going every time, if that's what you mean.” The doctor cocked his head to one side. “It wasn't all bad though, I won us free drinks for riding a mechanical bull this one time.” Spock was going to inquire further when there was a loud commotion from the dance floor.

Ensign Ricky had drunkenly lost his balance, knocking into Chekov's hand. The cup Pavel was holding jerked and spilled all down the front of his t-shirt.

Chekov looked down where Ricky lay on the ground and laughed. “Red shirt down!”

“PARTY FOUL!” Jim cried as he ran over to the birthday boy with a wicked grin. “You totally spilled your drink. You know the rules!”

Pavel grinned back. “I must take shot!”

The captain looked thoughtful. “Actually, you're the birthday boy. So you have to be up for more than that. You've gotta take a shot for every year you're aged, plus one to grow on.”

Spock blinked and McCoy was properly appalled. “Jim, that's _nineteen_ shots.”

“Yeah okay, that's a bit much.” Jim thought for a moment. “How about one shot per two years? So it's only ten shots.”

Chekov jumped up and down. “Ten shots is easy!”

“See he says it's easy!” Jim was grinning.

Bones raised an eyebrow. “Jim, you're the captain. You can't be telling your crew to take shots just because you say so.”

“Oh come on Bones, I don't make the rules.” Jim ran his fingers through his hair. “These are practically Starfleet regs here. It's your birthday, you take shots. It's one of the constants of the universe, like toast landing butter-side down or Vulcans being logical.”

Spock looked moderately pleased at that last part as he wiped up a spill on the arm of a nearby couch.

Bones shook his head once. “As a doctor, I seriously can't allow you to goad a twelve-pound eighteen-year-old into giving himself alcohol poisoning because of one of your hair-brained schemes.”

Jim shrugged. “So I'll do them with him and we can have alcohol poisoning together.”

“Only one getting poisoning is Captain.” Chekov's smile had turned slightly sinister. “You cannot keep up.”

The captain raised an eyebrow. “Chekov, I'm like seven years older than you. I'm pretty sure I could beat you in a drinking contest.”

“Drinking games were invented in Russia,” Chekov said as he shook his head with an air of resolve. “You cannot keep up.”

Oh _really_ now? “That sounds like a dare, Ensign.”

“It is dare, _Captain_.”

Oh, _snap_.

The partygoers had all stopped what they were doing when the words “party foul” had been uttered, but now the room was silent. A crowd had surrounded the two men, who were locked in a type of Mexican stand-off, bright blue eyes locked on blue-grey. No one dared to interfere, not even Spock or Bones.

“Pavel, do you really think this is a good idea?” Hikaru Sulu finally spoke up. “I mean, he weighs more than you and he's older.”

Scotty, who had only just arrived at the start of the conversation, elbowed Sulu in the ribs. “Lad, this just got interesting. Let them have their fun.”

“Not worried,” Chekov grinned. “Captain should be.”

As if they were children on a schoolyard, the crowd suddenly went “ _Ooooooooh_.”

In what is commonly acknowledged as the intergalactic language of _bitch, please_ , Jim rolled his eyes. “We gonna do this or what?”

The crowd cheered again. Scotty ran off to get a bottle of vodka and a huge stack of shot glasses. He quickly got to work setting everything up for the match.

Resignedly, Bones stood behind Jim. “Fine, be a dumbass both of you. But I ain't patching you up when you get both get sick. I mean it, don't come to my sickbay, I'm barring everyone from treating you.”

Never taking his eyes off of Pavel Jim found he couldn't help but say, “For someone so opposed to this, I sure don't see you leaving.”

Opening his mouth to reply, Bones quickly realized he had nothing to say to that and slammed it closed. Jim was right, damn him. This whole drinking contest was like a train wreck and Bones felt like he couldn't look away. He wasn't the only one.

“Captain, I must also say that this is incredibly irresponsible.”

“I think it's great,” Uhura spoke up. Spock his eyebrow. “What? Oh come on, this is fun. Besides, I'm putting twenty credits on Pavel. I've gone drinking with him before.”

“I got twenty on the captain,” DeSalle spoke up from the back.

Soon the room was divided up into who was cheering for which officer. Bones and Sulu stood behind Jim while Uhura and Spock stood with Chekov. Uhura rubbed Chekov's shoulders and whispered something into his ear*. The navigator quickly grinned and nodded.

The doctor sighed. Well, there really was only one thing he could say at this point. “Jim?”

“Yeah, Bones?”

“If you lose, I'm not speaking to you.”

Still not taking his eyes off Pavel, Jim shrugged. “Sure.”

“I mean it. We're done professionally.”

“Right.”

Like a boxing referee, Scotty raised his hands above his head and the room quickly went silent once more.

“Okey dokey, here's the rules.” Scotty yelled. Jim and Pavel took seats facing each other. “There's ten shots of straight vodka in front of you. The shot glass has to be completely empty and turned upside down once you're done to be counted. Whoever knocks them back the fastest wins the title of Supreme Drinker of the Universe and Starfleet.” The crowd gave Scotty odd looks. “I'll make a trophy.”

At this, the room exploded once again into cheering and clapping. A group of the guys from engineering started pounding on the tables, which privately filled Scotty with pride.

“Do it, Pavel!”

“Go Captain Kirk!”

“Ready, Captain?”

With a neutral expression, Jim nodded.

“Ready, Chekov?”

“Was born ready,” came the answer.

“On my mark gentlemen...GO.”

The shouting around them began again in earnest as the two men reached for their first glasses at the same time. Shots were quickly downed and soon the glasses were replaced upside-down. Around shot number five, Jim lagged a little getting it down his throat while Pavel kept taking his shots, quick and sure.

Unfortunately, Jim was not able to make up the lost time and just as he started swallowing shot number ten, Pavel slammed his last glass down.

Before he was aware he had done it, Bones felt his right hand connect with his face.

The crowd went nuts.

“Good game,” Sulu pat the captain on the shoulder as he went to congratulate his roommate.

Pavel stood up and raised the roof. Uhura quickly grabbed him into a huge bear hug and swung him around. Credits were being exchanged on both sides and everyone took their turns congratulating the birthday boy on his victory.

Kirk finally stood up and faced his competitor head on. Pavel looked up at him with a knowing expression.

“You kicked my ass.” Jim grinned and it was his turn to hug the navigator. “You kicked my ass in a drinking contest. Do you have any idea how hard that is?”

“You were toughest opponent,” Chekov shrugged. “Almost had me.”

“I had no idea about this side of you,” Jim said as his smile became more subdued. “What else am I missing out on?”

“Well, let us have another round and I will tell. But loser buys,” Chekov said with a wink.

Jim laughed. “You got it.” He smiled at the younger man and put his arm around his shoulders. “Let's go get that drink.” They made their way over to the vodka bar for the next round, stepping around a Spock who was picking up red plastic cups from the floor. The unlikely pair grabbed shot glasses and started drinking again, talking in between shots.

Sulu came back over to the doctor as he sipped from a cup. “They're awfully chummy all of a sudden. I guess drinking games really are the ultimate equalizer.”

Bones furrowed his brow. “Hm.”

Jim suddenly threw his head back and laughed at something Chekov said. He leaned down and put one of his hands on Chekov's waist, pulling him a bit closer, still smiling that same smile from before.

There was a way that Jim was tilting his head and touching Chekov: to a casual observer, it looked like maybe Jim just had a buzz going and was invading Chekov's personal space as a result.

When it came to Jim Kirk, Leonard McCoy hadn't been a casual observer in over three years.

At some point during or after the contest, Jim had set his sights on the kid.

_Christ._

“I feel like I should intervene,” he said causing Sulu to look at him oddly. “Except maybe this will finally teach him a lesson.”

“What?” Sulu looked to where the captain had leaned down and was whispering something in Chekov's ear, causing the navigator to smile and move closer to him. Sulu's eyes widened. “Oh, no way. That's just...there's just no _effing_ way.”

“Believe it,” Bones sighed. “I know Jim's moves better than he does. Any second now, he's going to put his hands in the kid's hair.”

“Right.” Sulu tilted his head to one side. “Well, I guess that means Pavel's going to do the thing where he smiles just so and starts whispering in Kirk's ear.”

As if on cue, Jim moved his hand to the back of Pavel's neck and started playing with his hair. Chekov moved closer still and took his turn whispering into Jim's ear. Bones looked at Sulu with a raised eyebrow. Sulu shrugged.

“You're not the only one on this ship with their best friend, you know.”

Scotty walked over with his own drink in one hand. “Great party, eh? What's got you two so sidetracked?”

Sulu nodded his head over to where the captain and Chekov were flirting, completely oblivious to everyone else around them.

Scotty's eyes widened for a moment before he grinned. “Well, this could be awkward,” he said cheerfully.

Bones put his hands in his pockets. “The captain is looking to deflower his navigator. Somehow awkward doesn't do it justice.”

Sulu snorted. “Please, Pavel hasn't been a virgin since his second year at the Academy.”

“I really did not ever need to know that,” the doctor groaned.

“I'm just saying, I mean how else do you think I knew his tells?” The lieutenant knocked back a big swig of his drink. “He's not as...free as the captain, but trust me on one thing; Kirk's not the first, and he won't be the last. I'll just consider us even.” After a beat, Sulu started to panic. “Oh god, I really hope they go back to Kirk's room instead of ours.”

“Aye, you don't want to walk in on that.”

“I'd hang out here for a bit after they leave, just in case.” Bones had accidentally caught the live act of Jim screwing more than once himself and yeah, it was this stunning combination of horrifying, educational, and just plain awkward. He shuddered at the memory.

At that moment, Pavel said one more thing and then actually touched Jim's face for a moment. He then turned and began to make his way out of the room. Jim's smile turned from subtle to shit-eating as he put their shot glasses down and started to make his way over to the door. Bones intercepted him by grabbing his arm as he made his way past.

“You can't possibly think this is a good idea.”

“You always think the worst of me.” Jim still had the shit-eating grin on his face and was also the slightest bit unsteady on his feet. He and Chekov had to have done at least fourteen shots of vodka by now. Bones swore inwardly, he was too late.

“Jim, this isn't a joke.” Bones crossed his arms. “Not only is he too young for you, he's in your direct chain of command. You could get court-martialed for this.”

“Lighten up, Bones, I'm just giving the birthday boy his special spankings.” Jim shrugged. “Neither of us are expecting anything except a good time here. Everything's going to be okay.”

“You don't know that, Jim, you never know that.”

“I do actually know that, because I look at the positive side of things. We're both grown ups, Bones, it's not a big deal.”

“Grown up? You don't even know the definition of the word. You never have. And you know what? I don't even know why I'm bothering. Go screw your navigator, see if I care. Just don't come crying to me when he wants off the ship.”

Jim rolled his eyes and then winked. “Don't wait up, dear.” With that, the captain made his way out of the party.

Bones merely sighed once. “I need to update my list.”

\-----

Pavel Andreiveich Chekov had practically skipped all the way back to the room he shared with Lieutenant Sulu. He promptly checked his hair, and fixed his collar. Perfect. He dimmed the lights to twenty percent.

While it wasn't common knowledge, it also wasn't really a secret that Pavel had been harboring a few fantasies here or there involving the captain since the Nerada incident. It appeared that this was one year that his birthday wishes were coming true.

Winning the drinking contest wasn't too shabby, either.

Clearly, this was the best birthday _ever_. He was going to have to find a unicorn or something for number nineteen at this rate.

The door chimed and Pavel grinned as he walked over and pressed the button to open it. Right on schedule, there was Captain Kirk.

“Hey,” Jim stepped inside. “Nice place you have here.”

“You are trying too hard,” Chekov leaned up and kissed him. “I am sure thing.”

“Straight to business then,” Jim agreed. He grabbed Chekov and pulled him into another kiss. This one was a little sloppy, but it did the trick and Chekov smiled a little as their noses bumped.

They slowly made their way over to the sofa, kissing the whole time. Pavel slid one hand up the back of Jim's shirt and pulled him even closer. They continued making their way through the room, although Jim was confused by why he was suddenly so uncoordinated. He'd never had his teeth knock together so much with someone else's before. He was Jim Kirk, king of smooth. It was almost like he was drunk or something.

Oh, right. Fifteen shots in under an hour.

He couldn't help but laugh at the realization. Chekov broke away from kissing his neck to look at him funny.

“Sorry, I just realized that I'm drunk,” Jim apologized. “I hope that's okay.”

“Certain I am too.” Chekov pulled him into another kiss. “It happens.” They quickly went back to making out.

Somehow, Jim lost his footing and they fell, rather than sat, onto the couch. They tried to shift so that Chekov was straddling the captain's lap, but he almost toppled over instead. Jim barely managed to catch him in time, but he overcompensated and they ended up losing their balance. Jim ended up on his back with Pavel on top of him. They both started giggling.

“We'll just lie down, it's more...safe...” Jim massaged Pavel's biceps through his shirt. For being such a little looking guy, he was packing a lot. “This is nice.”

Chekov rested his head on his chest. “Yes.” He leaned down and they kissed again, only this time when Chekov tried to move one of his arms he accidentally elbowed Jim in the side. This was okay because when Jim leaned forward to make it easier he knocked their foreheads together.

“Ow,” he said while laughing as he lay his head back down onto the couch. Pavel was rubbing his forehead absently. After a moment, Pavel lay so his body was draped over Jim's.

“Perhaps we should take breather.”

“Yeah, this is getting dangerous,” Jim said around a yawn. He put his arms around Pavel, who settled more comfortably on his chest.

It only took a few moments for the two of them to fall asleep.

\-----

Eventually, Hikaru Sulu opened the door to the suite he shared with Chekov. “Lights, forty percent,” he called softly.

He was greeted to the sight of his captain passed out open-mouthed on the couch with his roommate drooling on his chest.

Two things occurred to Sulu at that moment. The first was thank God above he had not walked in on anything, you know, gross. The second was that this would make for excellent blackmail material if he were that kind of a guy. Which he, unfortunately, wasn't.

Realizing that it would be a very bad idea for them to wake up like that, he gently picked Pavel up off the captain and carried him into his room. After placing him on his bed on his side, he gently removed his shoes and pulled the blankets up over him. Sulu went into the washroom and grabbed a full glass of water and some headache medicine from their cabinet, placing both near Pavel's head. This way, he would be sure to see both first thing in the morning: the kid wasn't especially prone to hangovers but he didn't care to risk it.

The next problem was Kirk.

Sulu weighed his options. Keep Kirk here over night, and risk a really awkward morning and even more awkward time on the bridge, or carry him back to his room and put him to bed. Sighing, he walked over to the couch.

“Kirk...hey Kirk...” He shook the captain's shoulder, hoping to jostle him awake. It was to no avail, Jim was completely dead to the world. He sighed again and then pulled his captain into a sitting position. It was a quick matter to arrange himself into a fireman's carry and Sulu went back out the door with the youngest Starfleet captain in history over his shoulder.

“Captain, with all due respect, you need to lay off the carbs,” he huffed as he entered the turbo lift and sat the man down for a moment. He pushed the button for Kirk's floor. Sulu rode in silence before he noticed Kirk was stirring a little.

“Hey Kirk, you awake?”

“Mmmm,” came the reply. Kirk hadn't even opened his eyes.

“Can you give me the access code to your door?”

“Mmmm,” Kirk mumbled again before seemingly passing back out. Great. Only one other option.

“Lieutenant Sulu to Commander Spock,” he whispered into his communicator. Oh god he really hoped he wasn't waking him up.

“Commander Spock here, Lieutenant,” Spock replied, the party could be heard still going in the background. Sulu thanked whoever it was looking out for him for working over time. “Do you require my assistance?”

“I just need Captain Kirk's security code for his quarters. He's...indisposed at the moment.”

There was a long pause. “I see. Is the line secure?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very well. It is three-five-six-four. Was there anything else, Lieutenant?”

“No, that's it. Thanks, Spock.”

“Indeed. Spock out.” Just as the communication line closed, the turbo lift door opened. Sulu picked Kirk back up off the floor and placed him once again over his shoulder like a rag doll. Very carefully, he then made his way to the captain's door. He punched in the appropriate numbers, and stepped inside.

Unable to carry the captain any further, Sulu placed him on his sofa. He quickly did for the captain what he did for Chekov, including the water and aspirin. Sulu then popped his back once and stepped back out into the hall.

He had to say, it had been one hell of a party.

  
[Scotty](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/22404.html)   



	2. Chapter 2

_**Fic: Stop (The Love You Save) Chapter Two: Scotty**_  
Title: Stop (The Love You Save)  
Series: Star Trek Reboot  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairings: All roads lead to Kirk/Bones, but first Kirk/Chekov, Spock/Uhura, Scotty/Uhura, and Sulu/Awesome

So how exactly did each of our favorite seven crew members celebrate their first birthday during the start of the five year mission? In no order, we have a rager, a quiet dinner, a pub crawl, a surprise party, a formal event, a restaurant booked in San Francisco, and a special visitor. This also answers the question...how exactly _did_ Jim fall in love with his best friend?

This is a prequel to “Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance.)” It starts five weeks into the five year mission and ends a month before “Variations on a Theme.”

Yes, this fic is named after the [Jackson Five song](%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYexVjOjGYA%E2%80%9D). The Jackson Five were awesome, and I will love them until the day I die.

Relevant to this chapter: the first TOS episode I saw was “Wolf in the Fold.” If I had the chops, I'd write an updated version of that a la _Perfect Blue_ because it could have been so scary and awesome and instead had Piglet screaming “I'LL KILL YOU ALL” while the Enterprise staff was high on future space quaaludes. So yes, Scotty's birthday is on Argelius, but he doesn't stab anyone. _OR DOES HE_?

Also Scotty describes himself in that episode as an “old Aberdeen pub crawler.” I hope I did him proud, even if he is mysteriously from Glasgow now. The song that he, Jim, and Uhura sing is [Sheena Easton's “Mornin' Train.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=ezMbFbwr7Lk)

Montgomery Scott had to admit, he hadn't been this excited since he got to beam off Delta Vega.

The Enterprise was getting ready to have its first official shore leave on the pleasure planet Argelius. Known for its beautiful scenery and completely hedonistic society, it was going to be a long-deserved treat for everyone on board.

The fact that shore leave _coincidentally_ began on his birthday, well, that was the proverbial icing on the cake.

Scotty had been doing his research ever since he realized the dates and he had finally come up with a viable idea.

The capital city of Argelius was set up rather similarly to New York. There were four boroughs, some nicer than the others, and all throughout the city there were tons of bars and pubs, sometimes for blocks there was nothing else. It was rather amazing.

And so, the decision was simple. He'd invite the usual suspects, plus his engineering staff to celebrate his thirty-seventh.

As he made his way across the officers mess with his usual ham sandwich, he spotted the captain and CMO having lunch together as they were prone to doing. This was perfect, he could get both of them at once.

“And that was how I ended up with both of them. At once!” The captain was gesturing somewhat wildly as he told a story. Given the smug look on his face, it wasn't difficult to guess what about. The doctor was paying more attention to his lunch than his friend. “Go ahead and tell me how awesome I am.”

McCoy finally looked up from his salad and his expression was one of barely tolerant exasperation. “Yes, Jim, you're the man.” Scotty quickly looked down at the floor to be certain he wasn't going to slip and fall from any of the sarcasm that was currently dripping from the doctor's words.

Kirk deflated somewhat. “Wow, Bones, the way you just said my name...you made it sound like it means 'shut up'.”

The doctor froze mid-chewing and Scotty, realizing he didn't want to get involved in this, started to head away. “Oh hey, here's Scotty. Scotty, come have a seat with us.” The doctor gave a sidelong glance at the captain, as if to say _ha_. The captain promptly gave one back that said _this isn't over_.

The engineer sighed. He, much like the rest of the crew, hated it when Mommy and Daddy would fight. “Captain, Doctor.” He quickly joined them at the table so as to not appear rude. Best to just jump in with it then.

“So my birthday's Thursday,” Scotty began as he unwrapped his lunch.

McCoy looked interested. “Really?”

The captain looked thoughtful. “You know, I think Spock mentioned that. He has some spreadsheet or something, I think, with everyone's birthday on it.”

Bones rolled his eyes. “Figures.”

Scotty looked oddly touched. “That's mighty illogical of him,” he finally managed. Remembering the whole reason why he was there, he brightened. “Anyway, the reason why I mention it is I have organized a little celebration for myself and I'd be honored if you gentlemen would join me.”

“What kind of celebration?” McCoy was suspicious. “I mean if it's anything like what Chekov had, I'll have to say no on principle.” Both men missed the petulant look that crossed the captain's features for a moment.

“Oh that would have been fun, on second thought.” Scotty had a _blast_ that night. From what he could tell, Yeoman Lewis pretty vocally had a good time too. “No, I figured since shore leave starts that day we'd have ourselves a little pub crawl.”

“Hm,” the doctor said with a thoughtful expression. “That sounds like it could be all right. It'd be nice to be off the ship, at any rate.”

It was Kirk's turn to look touched as he sat back in his chair. “You really want us to go?”

Scotty beamed. “I can't even imagine it without the two of you, to be sure.”

“Well then, we're the ones who are honored, Scotty.” Kirk grinned. “We'll be there.”

“Oh that's brilliant! I'll add you both to my list!” Happy that they accepted his invitation, Scotty finally began to eat. The conversation quickly turned to other things. (“The Hobgoblin really keeps a tally of our birthdays?” “Something about logic and morale. Honestly, I faded in and out.” “Oh, I find that shocking.” “You're always so mean, Bones.”)

This truly was going to be excellent. He hadn't been on a decent pub crawl in _years_. Everything was really coming up Montgomery Scott.

\-----

The big day having arrived, the game plan went as follows: beam off the ship around 2100 hours to the first location. From there, they were going to follow Scotty's carefully planned route to ensure maximum drinkage before last call at 0500. He intended to make his way through all of the whiskeys and local drinks he could before having to be forcibly beamed back up onto the ship.

He'd have loved to get into a good fight too, but since he was there representing Starfleet and Uhura had somehow managed to get Spock to agree to come, that was looking unlikely.

Scotty made his way to the transporter room on the big day with a huge smile on his face. In the short time he'd been in space with everyone, he had really begun to regard these people as his family and he was excited to show them the tried and true Montgomery Scott method of celebrating.

As the doors swished open, he was greeted by the sight of the senior bridge crew, along with Keenser and Ensign Richards in civilian clothes.

“Mister Scott!” Chekov grinned. “I am excited, I never have...what is?” He gestured to Scotty's outfit.

Scotty stood proudly in a red t-shirt that read “Engineers Do It with Harmonic Motion,” a kilt in the Scott family tartan, knee socks with tassels on the sides, and a pair of black shoes. He also had a matching tartan beret on his head. “What? I wear this every year. It was a might chilly on Delta Vega, but I couldn't deny tradition.”

Keenser nodded. Kirk and Uhura had matching expressions of _fair enough_ on their faces, Spock's eyebrow was raised well into his hairline, and McCoy looked like he was biting his tongue hard enough to bleed. Sulu just shrugged while Richards sighed, clearly used to her supervisor's idiosyncrasies.

“Anyway,” Kirk finally began. “We should probably go ahead down. I can't wait to check this place out, I hear the girls are unbelievable!”

“Oh well, maybe you can go find yourself an underage one,” McCoy muttered as he made his way to the transporter pad.

Kirk blinked. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Bones was about to retort when Uhura coughed.

“It's Scotty's birthday,” she stage whispered to them. “Knock it off.”

She was right, it wasn't the time or place. Kirk smiled while a slight nod of McCoy's head was the only acknowledgement she'd been heard. Soon everyone was in position to leave, with Scotty front and center.

“Energize,” he shouted as he struck a dramatic pose.

The transporter lights swirled around them and they were gone.

\-----

The music in their first stop was almost deafening, and the place was already filled to the brim despite the somewhat early hour.

The bar was actually decorated similarly to a Terran Pool Hall, complete with tables, dart games, skeeball, and what appeared to be jukeboxes. Smoke filled the room, dimming the lighting somewhat. People of all types, some humanoid and not, were all over the place. Scotty had set the bar high for the rest of the night by opening with this place.

“This joint is cool,” Keenser shouted to Scotty before heading to the bar. Scotty nodded as he and Richards made their way into the crowd.

Uhura grabbed Spock's wrist. “Come help me pick out a soundtrack,” she smiled up at him. He nodded and the two of them were off to the nearest jukebox.

Chekov laughed and grabbed Sulu's arm. “Hikaru, let us play.” He gestured to the pool table next to them. Sulu let himself be pulled over and they began to rack them up.

Scotty, McCoy, and Kirk all looked at one another. Kirk beamed.

“I'm gonna go get us a round,” Kirk wiped his hands off on his pants. “Let me see, whiskey right? I already know what Bones wants.” His friends nodded. “Let me see if the others want anything.” He went over to the jukebox where Spock and Uhura were arguing good-naturedly over a song choice.

Keenser came back carrying a tray of shots. He passed them out to everyone, reserving a double specifically for Scotty. Scotty beamed and gladly took it.

“Attention please,” Keenser called and the Enterprise crew looked at him. “I just want to say Happy Birthday to the rudest, drunkest, smartest, most food stealing guy I've ever worked with, Montgomery Scott! Happy birthday!”

“Happy Birthday!” Everyone from the ship grinned and clinked glasses. They all knocked their shots back, some more elegantly than others; Spock in particular looked as if the whiskey had personally offended him and he had only gotten a few sips down. Rounding up the empty glasses, Kirk took off to get the next round.

Sulu was putting chalk on his pool cue in preparation for Chekov taking the first shot. The younger man had turned his Starfleet baseball cap around backwards and looked at the table for a few minutes, mumbling under his breath. He tilted his head to one side and looked at the table more intently.

Hikaru sighed. “Today, Pavel?”

Finally satisfied with whatever it was he had been doing, Chekov leaned over the table and lined up his stick with the cue ball. He slid the stick in between his fingers once and then hit the ball with a loud crack.

Somehow, all but one of the solid balls made their way into different pockets. The striped balls had been all been moved around but miraculously none had been sunk; the eight ball was also still on the table. Sulu felt his jaw drop and he realized that he wasn't the only one as McCoy and Uhura were both gaping as well. Spock looked mildly impressed.

Scotty laughed and started to applaud. “You know that was unfair, laddie.”

Chekov shrugged. “Is geometry game.”

Sulu started to sputter. “Did you just _math_ your way into winning?”

“Is not against rules,” Pavel smiled. “Game all about angles.”

“Kid, I am never going to play you in any sport,” McCoy said as shook his head slowly. “Any. Even Twister.”

“Twister? I not know Twister?”

“Don't worry about it.” Uhura was smiling. She looked at Spock. “Can you do that?”

“I do not see why not.” Spock still had some of the shot left in his glass. He decided it wasn't worth it and passed it to his girlfriend, who gladly made short work of it. “Although I find it questionable that such a game would be so easy in terms of defeating an opponent.” They watched Chekov sink the last solid ball and line up a shot for the eight ball.

“Most people aren't math geniuses,” the doctor pointed out. “I couldn't do that on a good day, let alone while knocking back a few.”

“I suppose.” By this time, Chekov had sunk the eight ball and was pumping his fist in the air. Sulu looked rather annoyed.

“Here we go, I figure this is the last round we'll do here and then we'll head on to Scotty's next target.” Kirk said as he came up with their second round and a water for Spock. The Vulcan looked rather thoughtful for a moment.

“I admit to finding the concept of this evening's activities somewhat perplexing, while fascinating,” he said as he took a sip of water. “I do not see the purpose in staying such a short period of time in every location, nor in walking to each place when there is ample public transportation.”

Scotty clapped him on the back as he quickly downed his new shot. “The point is to drink as many places as possible, and the walk is your break in between. You're supposed to be so pissed that by the end of it, you're unable to walk. That's why it's called a pub _crawl_.”

That didn't really clear anything up for Spock. Uhura smiled at him.

“It's just something to do for fun.”

“I see,” was all he replied. He still didn't, not really, but he had agreed to come after all. Perhaps he would figure it out as he observed for the rest of the evening.

“Everyone done?” Scotty asked. Everyone nodded. “Then let's go!”

And off into the night they went.

\-----

Well into the evening, they found themselves at bar number five.

This place was a little more modern in terms of its décor than the others. Loud pulsing music played through an elaborate speaker system as people mingled and drank. This time, they were in the minority as most of the bar was distinctly less humanoid patrons. Still though, they were enjoying themselves.

They were averaging about three rounds of shots at each place, although McCoy had switched to actual drinks and Sulu had opted for water at the third pub. Scotty had attempted several times to buy a round but was thwarted to varying degrees each time. No one was willing to let him pay on his own birthday, which was fine by him. He did feel a bit guilty about it, but he also knew better than to argue. His Ma had raised him well, after all.

 _“MY BABY TAKES THE MORNING TRAIN! HE WORKS FROM NINE 'TIL FIVE AND THEN! HE TAKES ANOTHER HOME AGAIN! TO FIND ME WAITIN' FOR HIM!”_ Scotty belted out with Kirk and Uhura, their off-key voices rising above the sounds of people in the bar.

It had been Chekov's turn to buy the drinks, and he had returned with some kind of shot with a name Uhura said translated to “Klingon Massacre.” Scotty had no idea what was in it, he just knew it was red and about the size of what would normally be a triple. It was impressive and sure enough it was awesome if his mood was anything to go by.

This was probably his best birthday since the one where he had beat up a Manchester United fan.

 _“MY BABY TAKES THE MORNIN' TRAIN! HE WORKS FROM NINE 'TIL FIVE AND THEN! HE TAKES ANOTHER HOME AGAIN! TO FIND ME WAITIN' FOR HIM!”_

Spock kept wincing. It was probably because they didn't know the rest of the words.

The three of them tried to keep going with the song, Jim and Scotty launching into unintelligible gibberish while Uhura managed to get out the actual lyrics. The three of them immediately dissolved into laughter and a large group hug.

“If I didn't know that it was an emotion, I'd say you were confused,” McCoy called across the table to Spock.

“I have never seen Nyota behave in such a manner. Her singing voice is rather lovely under normal circumstances and I have seldom seen her shout. It is also rather unlike her to allow the captain to be so close to her.”

“She's always like this when she's drunk.” Sulu took a big sip of his water.

“Ah. Then it is most logical as to why I have not seen her behave this way before. She has never been intoxicated in my presence until this evening.”

McCoy and Sulu both raised their eyebrows. “Wait, you've never seen her drunk before?”

“When Nyota and I spend time together, it is considerably more quiet. We also usually are without an audience.” While reluctant to admit it, Spock was fascinated by this apparent new side to his girlfriend.

“It's nothing to worry about, she'll do it tonight, be hungover tomorrow, and it won't happen again for the next six months.” Bones shrugged. “Jocelyn would do the same crap sometimes with her girlfriends.”

The group hug broke apart but Scotty kept his arms around both Jim and Uhura, the latter leaning onto his shoulder fondly. He looked down at her with a smile on his face.

“Lass, have I ever told you that you remind me of someone I once knew?”

Uhura shook her head, hard enough that her earrings whipped across her cheeks.

“Lydia was amazing,” Scotty's voice had a faraway tone. “She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, with all this black hair and bright brown eyes, smart as a whip too, just like you.” Uhura smiled up at him. “We'd known each other since we were children, and she was my first true love, my first everything. She was perfect.”

“That's lovely.”

“Some days I miss her so much.” Scotty, for some reason, felt like he was choking up. The captain must have noticed it too, as his own smile became a little less bright. “I just don't know where we went wrong. One day, we were so happy and the next she was packing her bags. I haven't loved anyone like that since.” Was there water on his face? He must have been sweating or something.

Kirk was staring at him oddly while Uhura looked a little perplexed. What a strange reaction, he was paying her a compliment.

“You all are the best friends money can buy, you know that?” He put his arms around them and pulled them close into another large hug. Uhura flailed for a moment while Jim looked at Bones as if he was shouting “save me!” Bones just waved back with a smile from his chair. “I really do love you all, more than the Enterprise herself. Especially you, Captain! I love you like you were my own!”

“That's...great, Scotty.” Kirk had been attempting to pry the engineer off him. So far he had been unsuccessful.

“Like my own!” At this point, Scotty was sobbing on every other word. Uhura looked at her boyfriend, who was standing up.

“Mister Scott, I think perhaps...”

“And you!” Scotty, much to their relief, let go of Jim and Uhura to point at Spock. Or rather, he tried to as his finger kept waving back and forth. “Always with your logic but inside you beats the heart of a true Scotsman, I tell you what. You take good care of this lovely lass or old Scotty will be coming for you and then keeping her for myself, I will!” He launched himself at Spock, who instinctively froze when the older man hugged him. “I love you so much, mate!”

“Maybe it's because I'm drunk but uh...wow.” Jim whispered to Sulu. Sulu shook his head.

“No, it's the same for us sober people.”

“McCoy! You're all right and surly aren't you?” Scotty had somehow managed to sneak up on McCoy and was practically in his lap as he cried. “But you do such good work, you have such a good heart you do! You think no one can see it but it's there!” Scotty sobbed into the doctor's neck, who awkwardly hugged him back. Both of Spock's eyebrows were raised.

“Doctor, should you not take Mister Scott back to sick bay for an examination? He appears to be unwell.”

“He's not unwell Spock, he's drunk, and he's a maudlin drunk at that.” McCoy was fighting to keep from either punching Scotty or laughing, no one was sure which. “I never would have pegged Scotty as a crier.”

“What should we do?” Chekov hadn't seen anyone like this since his late uncle Piotr, God rest his soul.

“Aye, Chekov!”

“No,” Pavel whispered as he tried to find a way out.

“Chekov you bright, wee bairn!” Scotty launched himself at Pavel, who unfortunately was not quick enough on his feet to dodge. He soon found himself unable to breathe in a bear hug of epic proportions. “You remind me of me when I was your age! Having fun and so smart! You should never change, you know that? I wish I could freeze you in time, I do, because I love you so much just the way you are!” Scotty wiped some of the tears off of his face and he looked at the two people from his department.

“Richards, don't tell Keenser, but you're the most competent person on my staff. I'd be lost without you, dear, utterly lost!” Scotty sobbed.

Keenser, who was sitting next to Richards, looked mildly affronted. Richards patted him on the head absently.

“Keenser, you're just a bastard.” The fond smile and tears on Scotty's face undermined the harsh words. “But you're my best mate, you are. I wouldn't trade you for anything.”

The small green man looked appeased.

“Where is Sulu?”

The aforementioned pilot had been trying really hard to blend into one of the walls. Unfortunately for him, Kirk and Bones pointed to him, ratting him out. They were going to pay for that.

“Sulu!” Scotty grabbed him and started to cry in earnest. “You are the only sane person I know! You're normal, lad, how do you swing that?”

The pilot was too busy staring blankly to answer him. Scotty didn't even notice, he just started to cry again.

“Truthfully, you remind me of my dad. He was everybody's rock, he was, he was the one who looked after and took care of us all. You do that for us, and I am...” He choked back a sob. “I am so proud to know you.” He then began to cry in earnest on Sulu's right shoulder. The pilot found he could do nothing but pat him on the back as he let it all out.

“Well, so this has been fun.” Jim put his hands in his pockets. “But I forgot, I have something to do while I'm here. So I'm going to...go do that thing. I need to do. Bones too, Bones also forgot.”

Knowing a good opportunity when he saw one, McCoy spoke up. “Uh, yeah. I said I'd help him, so I need to go too. Come on, Jim.” If the two of were walking any quicker than they normally would have, no one commented.

Keenser and Richards stood up. “We should go too, it's...not fair for us to hog all the fun.” They started to make their way out of the bar. Chekov looked at them thoughtfully for a moment, before a look of realization came over his face.

“I need to go also,” he said as he slowly started backing towards the door. “Told Styles would only be out for a little. Not fair to my relief.”

Sulu narrowed his eyes. “Wait a minute, Pavel, we're not due...”

“Styles is calling, I must go!” Chekov practically ran out of the bar, leaving Scotty, Spock, Uhura, and Sulu alone with each other.

Uhura gave Spock a pointed look before turning to Sulu. “Hikaru, you can get Scotty back right?”

This really wasn't funny anymore. “You've got to be kidding.”

“You handled the situation one month ago with Mister Chekov and the Captain admirably, Lieutenant. It is logical that we allow you to take care of Mister Scott in his current condition, as you are clearly the best candidate to do so.”

Sulu looked at the sobbing engineer in his arms. “Wait but...”

“We'll see you back on board, Sulu. Good luck!” Uhura waved as she and Spock walked hand-in-hand out of the bar.

“Oh come on!” They hadn't even had the courtesy to come up with an excuse, they just ditched him with a crying engineer and barely a goodbye. Killing all of them suddenly seemed like a really great idea.

Scotty whimpered as he continued to cry on his shoulder.

Oh yeah, his shipmates could all rot in hell.

  
[Chekov](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/22051.html) | [Spock](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/22680.html)


	3. Stop (The Love You Save)

_**Fic: Stop (The Love You Save) Chapter Three: Spock**_  
Title: Stop (The Love You Save)  
Series: Star Trek reboot  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairings: All roads lead to Kirk/Bones, but there is Spock/Uhura, some slight Scotty/Uhura, and as always Sulu/Awesome.

So how exactly did each of our favorite seven crew members celebrate their first birthday during the start of the five year mission? In no order, we have a rager, a quiet dinner, a pub crawl, a surprise party, a formal event, a restaurant booked in San Francisco, and a special visitor. This also answers the question...how exactly _did_ Jim fall in love with his best friend?

This is a prequel to “Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance),” while the epilogue is meant to fill a gap between “You Can Save that Drama (For Another Day)” and the upcoming “The Movie Never Ends (It Goes On and On and On and On.)” It is not necessary to read both to understand this story, but it might be helpful in some areas.

This starts five weeks into the five year mission and ends a month before “Variations on a Theme.” The epilogue takes place two weeks after “You Can Save that Drama for Another Day.” Confused yet? I am.

Yes, this fic is named after the [Jackson Five song](%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYexVjOjGYA%E2%80%9D). The Jackson Five were awesome, and I will love them until the day I die.

Relevant to this chapter: I don't think Spock ever had a birthday until the Enterprise, Sarek seems like a fairly stern task master in that deleted scene where Amanda is awesome. I also think that certain crew members (*cough*Jim Kirk*cough*) would find this _criminal_ and go to town. And shut up, Halo and Guitar Hero will totally still be popular two hundred years from now.

Jim Kirk congratulated himself as he finally succeeded in hacking Spock's birthday spreadsheet that Friday morning on the bridge.

While complicated computer things like the ship's operating system and transporter technology were best left to the professionals (translation: Scotty, Chekov, and Spock), getting into a spreadsheet on the officers' server was pretty easy. Especially once he remembered that Spock's password would probably be _Amanda_.

And honestly, he would have just asked Spock about it. They had become a lot friendlier to one another since the actual tour began. They even played chess together sometimes after dinner, and Jim had to admit that it was nice to play against someone whose sole strategy wasn't “scorched Earth,” bless Bones and his little cotton socks. Despite their growing relationship, he was pretty sure they still weren't quite to the level that the senior Spock had told him they would be. So out of respect for that, he decided instead of asking to go behind his back and find out the pertinent information for himself. Uhura had refused to answer his question the six times he had asked (really, he shouldn't have been surprised after it took him three years to find out her _first name_ ) so that left him with no other options.

Carefully holding his PADD so no one could see what he was reading, he slowly scrolled down the document until he found what he was looking for. There it was, S'chn T'gai Spock.

Hold the phone.

He checked the date on his PADD. That was _tomorrow_.

That wasn't a whole lot of time to plan something. Oh sure it was more than enough to come up with any old party, but it wasn't a whole lot for what he would have liked to have done.

But then, there was the other hitch to his plan.

Chekov had turned legal in the eyes of the Federation, so his party was simple because what else would you want to do when you could finally drink without worrying about a fake ID? (And yes, he knew the kid had one despite looking like an eleven year old milkmaid. Being captain meant picking battles and that really was such a non-issue since they had been in space less than six weeks when he hit the right age.) And Scotty had planned his own shindig, which had been _awesome_ until all of the crying.

But what do to for Spock, whose idea of a good time centered on things like Lincoln-Douglass debates and math.

He just needed to pick his moment.

Apparently fate was on his side that day, as Spock excused himself to check on an experiment running in the xenobiology labs. Jim waited a moment before giving Sulu the conn and excusing himself as well.

It only took a second or two to get to the labs and there he found Spock, standing with his back to the door as he checked on some gossamer mice in a cage.

“So I've been doing a little digging.”

“I am going to assume you mean that in a colloquial manner and not literally, as no holes have been found in the decks of this ship.” Spock didn't even turn to look at him, he just kept working.

“...Did you just make a joke?” Jim put his hands on his hips. “I mean, was I just on the receiving end of a joke attempt?”

Spock held in his sigh. “The reason for your disturbance, Captain?”

“Right.” Jim relaxed his posture. “So I found out your birthday is tomorrow. Why haven't you or Uhura told anyone?”

Spock froze. It truly was a conundrum, for while his reasoning was somewhat illogical in nature, not telling the captain was even more illogical. He went back and forth with himself for a moment before finally saying “I did not wish for a fuss to be made over something that is relatively insignificant.”

Jim stared at him for a moment. “This is about Chekov and Scotty's parties isn't it?”

The frustrating thing about Jim Kirk truly was his moments of insight. While reserved for certain key instances, they were astoundingly accurate. Spock allowed the sigh this time. “Yes.”

“Ah.” The captain smiled. “Well if you don't want a rager or a pub crawl, you could just say that, you know. We can just have a regular party if you want.”

“If you would not mind clarifying what a 'regular party' would entail.” Spock made some notes in his PADD. The mice were reacting as anticipated to the stimulus. Fascinating. “I must admit I am unfamiliar with the custom.”

At some point, the captain had come up behind him for he placed a hand upon his shoulder. “Spock. You've never had a birthday party before?”

Spock turned finally to face Jim. “It is not part of the Vulcan culture to celebrate the occasion of one's birth. Sometimes, the elders will spend the day in meditation.” For some reason, this fact always seemed to make Nyota a bit sad but she accepted it as part of being with him.

Oh just...not just no.

 _Hell_ no.

This wasn't going to stand at all.

“You have never in your life had a birthday party?”

“I believe I just said that, Captain.”

“Well then we are going to fix that, tomorrow night. And for the record, a normal party involves music, games, and people socializing. Everyone just kind of hangs out, talks, that sort of thing. They're a bit loud, but they're fun.” Jim tilted his head to one side. “I'd say you saw it a lot at the Academy, but I already know that isn't true.”

That sounded terrible. “Not unlike Mister Chekov's gathering?”

That captain made a hmmm noise. “Kind-of, but much less out of control. I think everyone's used to each other enough at this point where we can all behave ourselves. And I'll make sure there's no alcohol.”

Spock looked at the captain with interest for a moment. After a moment's consideration, he stated “You will not accept no as an answer.”

“Not a chance.” They really were getting to know each other well. “I'll plan on it starting at 2000 in the rec room on deck six. Don't be late.”

Spock finally nodded his assent and the captain made his way back to the bridge.

\-----

As a sign of solidarity, the senior bridge crew minus the captain rang the chime on Spock and Uhura's door at approximately 19:58 the following evening in their civilian clothes. There they were greeted by an Uhura wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.

“Hey Nyota,” Sulu waved. “You both ready?”

Uhura opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off. “I still do not believe that this is a good idea.” Spock came out of their washroom then, still in his uniform.

“Will you all please talk some sense into him?” Understandably, Uhura was somewhat frustrated. This conversation had been going on since they left their duty stations at the end of alpha shift and she had run out of ideas. “He wouldn't even have dinner, he just paced back and forth while giving reasons not to go.”

“The last two gatherings I have attended have been raucous and centered around various states of inebriation.”

“Aye, but you can't blame the Captain for mine, that was all my doing.” Scotty folded his arms across his chest. “He also mandated that this is a dry party. I don't think that any drunkeness will be a problem tonight.” Chekov nodded his agreement.

Spock did not look like he quite believed them. “I must admit that I find the thought of being the center of attention somewhat uncomfortable.”

Uhura clucked her tongue. “Which, as I've been saying for an hour, is _illogical_.”

Bones rolled his eyes.

“Look pointy ears,” the doctor began. “The party starts in one minute. I know Jim well enough to know that he'll allow us no more than five minutes of tardiness before sending Cupcake and crew after us. It's your choice if you come with us willingly or you end up dragged kicking and screaming.”

Spock looked at each of his friends in turn, Uhura and McCoy having the most stern looks out of everyone. The unfortunate reality is that their arguments were sound and he was truly being most illogical. He would also rather not disappoint the captain. He moved to the door and then turned back to his friends.

“I suppose we should be on our way.”

\-----

The rec room looked as if a six year old girl's birthday had been filled with hydrogen, causing an explosion whose collateral damage now covered the walls.

Ignoring the disturbing question of where exactly the captain found crepe paper and balloons, there was a large white layer cake in the middle of a table with a big rainbow colored twenty-seven on top. Various view screens in the room had different games loaded onto them and the room was already beginning to fill up with various members of the science team.

“Well Spock, it's your birthday.” Bones was a combination of disturbed and impressed by his best friend. “What would you like to do?”

It was illogical to say _go back to my quarters_. The captain appeared with a cake server and a bunch of plates. “Hey guys.” He sat them on the table with the cake. “Isn't it great? I had to go by my memories of my friends parties as a kid, but I think I did okay.”

Spock looked mildly nauseous while everyone else was charmed against their will. The important thing was that the captain was trying, and this looked like it really could be fun, in a reclaiming your childhood kind of way.

“Oh, Halo!” Chekov pointed to a screen with controllers set at it. “Let us play!”

No one would look at him.

Pavel's eyes were sad. “No one wants to play Halo?”

“Not with a cheater,” Scotty muttered. Pavel's expression went from merely sad to “wounded puppy.” Sulu put a hand on his shoulder.

“Well, you can't blame them for this.” He smiled at his best friend. “I mean, you have brought it on yourself. Play fair and people will want to play with you.” Chekov nodded.

“If I promise to not cheat?”

“Then I'll shoot things up with you.”

“Me too.” Scotty joined in. “Let's go kill stuff, shall we?”

“Hey me too, I haven't played in a while.” Uhura was grinning. Spock looked mildly alarmed, which meant he was having a Vulcan freak out.

“Nyota...”

“Oh Spock, you'll be fine!” She gently pat the side of his face once. “Have some fun for once. I hear it's good for everyone, even Vulcans.” She followed the boys over to a television. Bones excused himself to get a glass of the pink sparkling punch in the corner.

“Normally we do this later, but since it's your birthday I can cut you a piece now if you'd like.” Jim gestured to the cake.

Suddenly Spock realized that he was hungry. He had not eaten since oh-seven-hundred that morning. Cake, while not his first choice, would probably be a good idea. He nodded once, and Jim cut into it. The cake itself was a deep red in color, and the contrast against the white frosting was quite striking.

“Curious, I have never seen a cake that color.” Jim's slices were generous and Spock studied the piece on his plate for a moment before finally taking a forkful. As he chewed and swallowed, he found the flavor and texture most pleasing. He quickly took a much larger second bite. Jim watched him eat with a pleased expression.

“Looks like I made the right call with the cake. Muriel should get a commendation for this beauty.”

Without realizing it, Spock had already finished his slice. That was somewhat unlike him, but he found he was still hungry. He also felt more calm than he had since the previous day. “May I have another?”

Jim beamed. “Of course, it's your cake!” He took the offered plate and put another piece on it. “Here, I'll leave the knife for you if you want more. I'm going to check on the other guests. Happy Birthday Spock, have a great time!”

Not wanting to disobey orders, Spock served himself another large piece of cake.

\-----

 _AND WHERE ARE THEY NOW? THE LITTLE CHILDREN OF STONEHENGE! AND WHAT WOULD THEY SAY TO US? IF WE WERE HERE...TONIGHT!_

The game was much easier than it appeared, and was actually quite logical when you got down to the basic principles. You just pushed the buttons on the guitar in time to when their coordinating colors came up on the screen. It was a very good way to exercise his hand-to-eye coordination and test his reflexes. It also helped that it was indeed somewhat similar to his own lute.

Spock also found himself thinking that it was fun.

Having shed his blue tunic, because for some reason he found the temperature of the room to be far too hot for his liking, Spock finished “Stonehenge” with a perfect rating.

This “expert” mode must have been poorly named.

There was a riotous round of applause and Spock started scrolling through the track listing for his next challenge.

“You smoked that song, Commander!” Ensign Colt shouted.

“Play some Skynyrd!” Riley yelled. Ricky elbowed him.

“Dude. Don't be that guy.”

“The only Skynyrd listed is a 'Lynyrd Skynyrd.' Is that the band you are requesting?”

From across the room where had just gotten his ass handed to him in a game of Left 4 Dead, Jim watched his first officer cue up the song with pride and fondness. Not only had the goal been to give Spock his first ever birthday party, but it had also been to get him to relax a little.

Yes, James T. Kirk could definitely file this one in the win column.

Bones came over with a slightly worried expression. He tilted his head to one side and focused all of his attention on Spock. “He's not himself tonight.”

“It's great, though, to finally see a different side to him right?” Jim nodded. “I mean you're always bitching about how he should be less tense.”

“Yeah but there's something...”Just then, a random ensign strolled past with a slice of cake. Bones closed his eyes for a moment and then pinched the bridge of his nose. Oh this was just _fantastic_. “Red velvet cake? Really, Jim?”

Jim grinned. “It's a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.”

The doctor inhaled slowly, then exhaled to the count of three. Bones was upset. Why would he be upset? “Do you know what red velvet cake is?”

Knowing full well that it was the wrong answer, Jim decided to go ahead and say “...Delicious?”

“No.” Bones paused. “Well okay yes it is, my favorite actually, but relevant to what is happening right now, red velvet cake is a _chocolate_ cake.”

Jim felt himself go pale. Everyone knew what chocolate did to...wait.

What?

“...No it isn't. It doesn't taste a thing like chocolate.” Jim was thoughtful before continuing. “It just has its own special, uniquely red velvet flavor.”

Bones sighed. “That's because of the dye, Jim. You have to use so much of it in order to achieve the color, it ends up affecting the flavor of the batter. I promise you, there is no less than two cups of cocoa in that cake. The cake that the Spock who I would think had an eating disorder if he wasn't Vulcan has had _seven_ servings of and is now drunk from.”

Oh _fuck_.

It was Jim's turn to rub his face with his hands.

“Okay. What I need to know is, is this bad like me failing the _Kobayashi Maru_ bad or bad like me _passing_ the _Kobayashi Maru_ bad?”

“Bad like your first officer is currently acing “Free Bird” on hard and will have the mother of all hangovers in about twelve hours if I don't get him a saline hypo soon bad.” Bones pointed and Jim turned to look.

Yeah, Spock really was acing “Free Bird,” his star power was off the charts. He wasn't even really looking at the screen as he spun in a circle and free-styled during the guitar solo. Ensign Colt, Lieutenant Brooks, Keenser, and a few others were waving lit tricorders back and forth in time to the music.

Huh.

Jim hadn't known they could do that. From the look on his face, neither had Bones.

The song was winding down now and Spock was still spinning in a circle. A shout came from the other side of the room, momentarily distracting them.

“I hope you're all appropriately ashamed of yourselves,” Uhura was standing triumphantly while Sulu and Chekov looked properly disgraced. “Because you guys just got schooled!”

“I am tactics officer and I lost to communications officer?”

“I forgot how good she is at this game,” Sulu muttered darkly.

“Marry me,” Scotty said as he stared up at her in awe. “I know I'm not Spock, but promise me if it doesn't work out I'll be next in line.”

Uhura threw her head back and laughed. His song having ended, a green-cheeked Spock made his way over.

“May I borrow Nyota for a moment?” Without waiting for an answer, he took her by the hand and to a corner where they talked quietly. At this, Kirk and Bones made their way over to the rest of the gang.

“How did he sound just now? Was he sick or dizzy at all?” Bones shot off his questions at a rapid-fire pace. “Any noticeable stumbling?”

“A little flushed, but he was fine.” Scotty shrugged. “Why?”

“Spock's drunk off the cake,” Jim quickly supplied. “We need to make sure he doesn't do anything he might regret or choke us over.” Choke _me_ is what he actually meant, but that clearly went without saying.

“What can we do?” Chekov was very fond of Spock and did not want to see anything go badly for him.

“Just make sure he doesn't go anywhere, I'll run down to medical and get a saline hypo so he doesn't...” Bones trailed off. “Where'd they go?”

Spock and Uhura were suddenly nowhere to be found.

Okay this was starting to _suck_.

“Okay, let's not panic.” Sulu held up his hands. “Nyota's not stupid, she probably realized that Spock was wasted and took him back to quarters. I'm sure she'll take good care of him.”

The other four stared at the rec room door for a moment. Finally, Jim broke the silence.

“I think Sulu's right. She probably just wanted to spare him any highly illogical embarrassment.” He shrugged, then looked at the view screen where the game of Halo had been paused. “Let's just enjoy the rest of the night, okay? Bones'll take Uhura's spot for you guys, I've got some dignity to reclaim.” Jim went off back to the screen he had been at earlier and the others all eyed the doctor warily as he sat down and unpaused the game.

“I ever tell you I was first in my marksmanship class?” With that, Bones promptly laid waste to all of the enemies on the screen before anyone else so much as pushed a button.

Sulu, Chekov, and Scotty all blinked.

“Great. Now I have to choose.” Scotty finally managed.

\-----

The next morning, Jim found himself pondering the party as he cut a piece off of his breakfast burrito.

He had made Bones promise to let him know if medical got any calls from Uhura or Spock regarding any sickness, chocolate poisoning, or dehydration issues. Bones had mumbled something that he assumed was an assent, as he was rather occupied leading co-op mode with the others when Jim left for the evening.

Two trays were set down across from him. He glanced up to see a tired Sulu and a chipper Chekov.

“What time did you guys give up?”

“Four o'clock!” Chekov took a bite of his own breakfast burrito while Sulu poured about a pound of sugar into his coffee. “Doctor is brilliant at Halo! Always feel so sad at Cortana part.”

Sulu stirred his coffee very slowly.

Jim eyed his pilot warily. “You're not going to fall asleep at the wheel, right?”

“No, I'll be fine.” Sulu tasted the coffee; it wasn't exactly how he liked it but it was drinkable. “I just will probably go right to bed after my shift.”

Jim nodded. He found that acceptable.

The doors to the mess hall burst open and there was a somewhat disheveled looking Uhura, still wearing the shirt and jeans from the previous night. She looked around the room for a moment, before noticing the captain and her friends.

She promptly sprinted across the mess, grabbed Jim's face, and kissed him solidly on the mouth for a minute. Kirk sat blinking in disbelief as they broke apart, his eyes wide.

“THANK YOU!” She grabbed him into a hug, then pulled back far enough to look him in the eye once more. “Just...just _thank you_!” She then turned and ran back out of the mess.

Jim didn't understand much of anything at that moment, because why would she thank him for getting her boyfriend drun...

Oh.

That just was _wrong_.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, because oh there was probably _Spock_ there and oh he was _so_ unhappy. He slowly pushed the plate away from him, because really who could have a breakfast burrito after that?

Shaking his head he noticed that Chekov had frozen, and his eyes were huge and round. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, like a goldfish. He must have shared Jim's sentiments about Spock; cool guy, really don't need to know about his abilities in the bedroom.

Clearly being used to Uhura dumping too much information, Sulu simply put an arm around Pavel's shoulders. “It's okay, just...just try not to think about it. It'll be okay.”

Chekov made a small meeping noise.

  
[Scotty](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/22404.html) | [Kirk](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/22788.html)


	4. Stop (The Love You Save)

_**Fic: Stop (The Love You Save) Chapter Four: Kirk**_  
Title: Stop (The Love You Save)  
Series: Star Trek reboot  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairings: All roads lead to Kirk/Bones, but there is Spock/Uhura, some slight Scotty/Uhura, and as always Sulu/Awesome.

So how exactly did each of our favorite seven crew members celebrate their first birthday during the start of the five year mission? In no order, we have a rager, a quiet dinner, a pub crawl, a surprise party, a formal event, a restaurant booked in San Francisco, and a special visitor. This also answers the question...how exactly _did_ Jim fall in love with his best friend?

This is a prequel to “Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance),” while the epilogue is meant to fill a gap between “You Can Save that Drama (For Another Day)” and the upcoming “The Movie Never Ends (It Goes On and On and On and On.)” It is not necessary to read both to understand this story, but it might be helpful in some areas.

This starts five weeks into the five year mission and ends a month before “Variations on a Theme.” The epilogue takes place two weeks after “You Can Save that Drama for Another Day.” Confused yet? I am.

Yes, this fic is named after the [Jackson Five song](%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYexVjOjGYA%E2%80%9D). The Jackson Five were awesome, and I will love them until the day I die.

Relevant to this chapter: Kirk can't be a ridiculous douchebag all of the time. I'm sure he's got the capacity for insecurity and solemnity in him. I also firmly believe that he has to grow up sometime, and here's where it starts.

It was a Tuesday several weeks later that Leonard McCoy found himself updating his medical records for the whole senior bridge crew when the pair came into his office without warning or even the empty gesture of a knock.

Fortunately the door had been left open, otherwise that might have made him cross.

“Uhura, Sulu,” he said without looking up from his PADD. This was unexpected and not a little perplexing, as neither of them had been scheduled for any appointments that day and pretty much the only person who ever dropped by unannounced was Jim. “Can I help you with something?”

The lieutenants looked at each other for a moment and eventually Sulu gestured at her to go ahead. “We're actually here on a personal matter.”

McCoy froze. Oh God, there was only one thing that could mean. “...You're not...I mean...won't Spock freak out about you two?”

It was their turn to be confused. “What?”

Whoops. “Nothing, don't worry about it.” He finally put the PADD down and faced her with his arms crossed. “What can I do for you?”

Nyota tilted her head to one side. “Well, we've been elected by everyone else to ask for your expertise and advice regarding something fairly...sensitive.”

He couldn't help but be a little flattered. “Sure, what's going on?”

She took a step to the other side of his desk in order to better face him and placed her hands on the back of his chair. Having not really spent any time in his private office before, she spared a few looks around the room. Uhura couldn't help but smile gently at a picture of what could only be his daughter before continuing. “We have it on good authority that Kirk's twenty-sixth birthday is in two days.”

Leonard McCoy was suddenly sure of two things; he needed to delete Spock's damn spreadsheet, and that he didn't like where this was going. “Yeah?”

“Well, none of us can agree on what to do. Scotty thinks we should have a party like we did for Chekov. However,” she gave a pointed look to her friend as Sulu rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall. “Sulu thinks we should do something more like what Scotty had when we get out of warp next week and just delay it. I say that we should...why are you making that face?”

“I'm not.”

“You are. You look like you're reliving that time Kirk replaced your bourbon with gin, right before you chased him down.”

“I was going to say the face you make whenever you lose an argument to Spock, but it's the same basic expression, yeah,” Sulu called helpfully.

Shit, they were probably right.

McCoy rubbed his chin for a moment. “Okay, so I _am_ making a face.” Being delicate had never been his strong suit, but this was not a situation that called for his normal tactlessness. Although he really preferred to think of it as _not wasting time on pithy beating around the bush bullshit_ , rather than the straight up rudeness everyone else insisted it was. Anyways... “You're both brilliant Starfleet officers. Tell me, what happened twenty-six years ago on Thursday?”

Uhura gave Sulu a weird look, and he only shrugged in return. “Well, everyone knows that the _Nerada_ attacked the _USS Kelvin_ , causing the sacrifice of...” She trailed off as an incredibly guilty look crossed both of their features at the same moment. “Oh, I never thought...we didn't realize...”

“Right.” And he knew they hadn't made that connection, he really did. He also knew they meant well, but it would be much better for everyone if he just put a stop to it before they got along further with any plans. “Jim doesn't do birthday celebrations.”

“I don't understand.” Sulu shook his head. “He's always the first to plan something for someone else. He lives for parties.”

“Yeah, but like you said they're always for _other people_.” Bones raised an eyebrow. “He has his fun celebrating for his friends, trust me on that one.” Once again, he found himself remembering the night with the mechanical bull. For some reason, that was coming up a lot recently. “He just really doesn't like his own birthday and I don't think anyone can blame him for that.”

Uhura and Sulu looked thoughtfully at one another before the pilot spoke once more. “No, I can't say anyone would. Does he do anything at all?”

“We have a thing I started at the Academy.” That reminded him, he needed to get with Muriel about that for Thursday. “It's very small and it's all he'll accept because he just prefers to be left alone when it comes around. He won't even take gifts.” As a matter of fact, Bones always got him two Christmas presents to make up for it. “He'll be fine.”

Uhura's brow was furrowed. “While that may be true, we won't be.”

“Come again?” He hoped she didn't mean that the way it sounded, because he had actually been having a fairly decent day. Getting into an argument with her wasn't exactly the way he wanted to finish it out.

“Don't misunderstand, I'm not making this about us.” The expression on her face was determined, but there was a look in her eyes, a very quietly caring look that somehow softened the hard lines of her expression. “I just really don't think that's right. He's done all of these things, these wonderful things and I'll be the first one to say they haven't all gone according to plan, but that he cares enough to do them for us...it's not fair for him to not get to experience it from the other side.”

Never having denied that she was beautiful, Bones had never fully understood Jim's captivation with her until that moment. And as much as he would never admit it out loud, Spock was a very lucky guy.

He shrugged. “I can't say that I disagree, but you all haven't tried before, Nyota. I have. If there's anything attached at all to his birthday, he'll refuse.”

“So we won't attach it to his birthday then.” The wheels were visibly turning and a slow smile spread across her face. “We'll do something quiet, as far from a party as you can get. Like...dinner. We'll just all meet for dinner in his ready room. And if the menu is a little more special than usual, well what can he say?” Uhura's whole face had lit up; after all, this was a really great idea. “I'll make sure no one so much as utters the word 'birthday' unless it's after he leaves.”

Sulu nodded. “Yeah, we won't even sing. Just dinner, the seven of us. He can't object to that, right?”

Throughout everything they had said, Bones found himself thinking. If they all kept to that, this had the potential to go over fairly well. Jim was never the same on his birthday, nothing could fix that. But this, this he might actually not only accept, but enjoy. “That could work, but it would have to be really low-key. Don't do anything too obvious like all of his favorite foods or anything. No gifts from anyone. And absolutely _no_ cakes, pies, éclairs, or anything that so much as resembles a pastry.” There was a separate reason for that last one, aside from the obvious, but he had to make sure they understood just how _not_ a birthday dinner this had to be. “When you get the particulars straightened out, let me know. I'll make sure he's there.”

Uhura smiled. “All right then.” She suddenly turned more serious as she finally moved out from behind the desk and the pair made their way over to the door. “We're counting on you, Leonard.”

With that they were gone, leaving Bones alone to figure out the hard part.

\-----

Jim Kirk sat in a chair in front of the window on the main observation deck two days later, glad for the fact that he had previously made arrangements to take the day off. Nevertheless, he found himself in his captain's colors as he stared at the streaks of stars going by.

There wasn't much to see when they were in warp, but he had felt closed up in his quarters and so here he was. He needed to be able to look out at something, something that reminded him that he was, in fact, free.

He sighed.

Really, it was somewhat disappointing. Twenty-six so far felt exactly like twenty-five. He didn't feel older, or wiser, or somehow even better looking than he was. He just felt like he was...there.

After a few hours of sitting alone, he heard the door to the deck open. He didn't bother looking to see who it was, it was probably just some ensign from Spock's team or something. He sighed again.

It is commonly accepted that birthdays are supposed to be a happy time for the person celebrating. They signify a new start, a new year in the life. There are presents, and there are parties, and there are warm feelings and togetherness.

The unfortunate reality is, this is not always true for everyone.

Oh, his mom had tried growing up. Winona Kirk wasn't a monster after all, but her smile was always a little less bright and more tarnished for the time around his birthday. No matter how distant the parent, no son likes to see their mother sad and by the time he was ten he had stopped celebrating it all together. He never told anyone so much as the month of his birthday until one night Bones had dragged it out of him during a game of quarters.

The footsteps of whoever it was grew closer. He thought he heard a small click, but he chalked it up to his imagination.

So he had always done it backwards. Anyone who he cared about, they got everything they could possibly ask for on their birthday. There were presents, and there were parties, and most of all, from Jim there were warm feelings and there was togetherness. It worked out well for everyone, his friends got an awesome time and the pressure was off of him.

That was about when the humming started. He finally looked up in the direction of the sound.

Bones was slowly making his way across the observation deck with a chocolate cupcake in his left hand, his right held up to shield the flame of the single candle on top. His brow was furrowed as he concentrated on moving slowly enough to keep the flame from blowing out. The humming grew louder as he moved closer and remarkably, he finally began to sing.

“Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you,” Bones stopped in front of him. “Happy birthday, dear Jim, happy birthday to you.” He awkwardly knelt in front of Jim's seat as he rested the cupcake on his knees. He then grabbed both of his friend's hands and put them around the cupcake, holding them in place.

Jim swallowed around a lump that had formed in his throat. “How'd you get a real candle?”

“I have my ways,” Bones smiled. “There may have also been a little help from Scotty to keep the alarms quiet.” The flickering of the flame reflected in Bones's eyes, which were almost orange in the light.

Jim shook his head. No matter how he swallowed, that lump wasn't going anywhere and he almost didn't trust himself to speak. There was something else, a kind of warmth he couldn't remember having felt before. He pushed it to the side. “I didn't think you were going to remember.”

“I'd never forget.” The smile finally gave way to a more serious expression. “Our presence is requested in your ready room.”

Oh _no_. “Bones, I don't...”

“Do this, I know. But this isn't a party, Jim, it's just something they want to do to say they care.” Bones finally broke the eye contact as he looked off to the side. Jim watched him think for a moment, comforted by how nice his friend's profile was. Strange how he had never noticed that before. “Jim...family doesn't have to be people you're stuck with because of genetics. Sometimes, when we're lucky, we can choose who becomes a part of it and who stays out.” Bones looked back at him then, face still serious but eyes soft. “There are five people in that ready room right now willing to become that for you, if you'll let them.”

The beginnings of a smile began to work their way onto Jim's face, although he couldn't help but poke fun for a moment. “You don't want to be part of the family, Bones?”

“Well I'm not in the ready room, am I,” Bones retorted with a roll of his eyes. “And we both know I've been your family for three years so don't try to fish for any more compliments.” He glanced down at the cupcake. “You going to make a wish before we get lit on fire or what?”

Jim snorted, but he closed his eyes and did what he was told. There was only one thing on his mind at the moment, and before the implications could strike him he made his wish and blew out the candle.

At this, Bones finally let go of his hands and stood. Jim stared down at them for a moment, wondering why it felt like a loss.

“Come on, we need to get going before Uhura kicks my ass.”

Still looking at his hands, Jim slowly stood. “Right behind you.”

\-----

They were not greeted by cheers, banners, confetti or even a cease in the conversation when they arrived in the ready room.

Sulu, Scotty, Uhura, Spock, and Chekov were all discussing inconsequential things like trans-warp theory and how to order another round in Orion when the door opened. Four smiles were aimed at Jim as McCoy hung back to let him have his moment. Before long, Uhura had excused herself from Sulu and had stood up.

“Nice to see you Captain, Doctor.” She pat Jim on the arm and winked to McCoy, who nodded back. “I was getting a bit worried, but we saved two places for you.” McCoy deferred to Jim and took the open seat between Spock and Scotty as Uhura quickly ushered the captain to the head of the table. The conversation began again as everyone enjoyed one another's company.

Their dinner was served family-style with a variety of pasta and side dishes. As everyone traded entrees and conversation, Jim mostly found himself sitting back and looking around at everyone gathered before him.

Some of them were as different as night and day, but he knew without question that he would go to hell and back for these people. Seeing everything in front of him, he suddenly knew that they would do the same in turn. His thoughts turned back to what Bones had said as Chekov and Sulu began to debate good-naturedly over whether or not fencing was truly a Russian invention.

Although he couldn't put his finger on why, he found his attention kept drifting back to Bones, who was laughing at a story Scotty was telling him.

After a fashion, Uhura tapped her fork against her wine glass.

“If I could have everyone's attention for a moment...” Everyone obligingly grew quiet, although no one missed the look of _what the fresh hell do you think you're doing_ on Bones' face. She shot him a look back that plainly said _try and stop me_. “I'd like to propose a toast. To those of us in this room and our five-year mission; may we, as we boldly go, always have one another whether things are good or bad. And may we always call each other friends.”

Everyone raised their glasses and said “Cheers,” except Spock who nodded to her in approval. She smiled back at him warmly. Without another word, they all drank.

Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Sulu paused with his glass near his mouth. He looked across the table and found himself looking at McCoy, whose head was thrown back as he sipped his drink. In his peripheral vision, he realized he wasn't the only one and he glanced back at Kirk, who was looking at his best friend not a little admiringly as he drank from his own glass.

That was new.

He looked back at the doctor, before looking once more at the captain who didn't really seem to be aware of what he was doing. Next to him, Uhura began to smile. He looked at her and saw that she too was looking at the captain's line of sight. It wasn't long before she realized she had been caught and she turned and favored Sulu with a raised eyebrow.

As he finally took a sip of his wine, Sulu found he couldn't help but smile back. 

  
[Spock](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/22680.html) | [Uhura](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/23105.html)


	5. Stop (The Love You Save)

_**Fic: Stop (The Love You Save) Chapter Five: Uhura**_  
Title: Stop (The Love You Save)  
Series: Star Trek reboot  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairings: All roads lead to Kirk/Bones, but there is Spock/Uhura, some slight Scotty/Uhura, and as always Sulu/Awesome.

So how exactly did each of our favorite seven crew members celebrate their first birthday during the start of the five year mission? In no order, we have a rager, a quiet dinner, a pub crawl, a surprise party, a formal event, a restaurant booked in San Francisco, and a special visitor. This also answers the question...how exactly _did_ Jim fall in love with his best friend?

This is a prequel to “Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance),” while the epilogue is meant to fill a gap between “You Can Save that Drama (For Another Day)” and the upcoming “The Movie Never Ends (It Goes On and On and On and On.)” It is not necessary to read both to understand this story, but it might be helpful in some areas.

This starts five weeks into the five year mission and ends a month before “Variations on a Theme.” The epilogue takes place two weeks after “You Can Save that Drama for Another Day.” Confused yet? I am.

Yes, this fic is named after the [Jackson Five song](%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYexVjOjGYA%E2%80%9D). The Jackson Five were awesome, and I will love them until the day I die.

Relevant to this chapter: I have a hard time believing that Uhura is this proper uptight lady all of the time. I mean, she knocks back a double-shot of Jack no problem at the bar in Riverside. Also meeting the in-laws when the in-laws are Vulcan? Terrifying. Just putting that out there.

The song that is relevant to this chapter is [Duffy's “Mercy.”](%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8gxznk-NNI&feature=related%E2%80%9D) Just...you'll know where it is.

“Nothing says __(insert name here)__ like a customized cocktail napkin” is a line from a little known television series that I adore called Gossip Girl, specifically the episode “The Remains of the J.” I found it to be way too appropriate where it is used. So I humbly request that no one turn me in for theft, as I am giving credit where it's due.

  
The Enterprise was currently on a supply run for New Vulcan. The colony was actually coming along quite well, despite the incredibly small number of Vulcans left in the galaxy. They had all been working extra shifts to aid where they could, Spock, naturally, working the hardest of them all.

They were due to leave orbit the following morning and head on a reconnaissance mission to the planet Ekos in order to track down a Starfleet historian named John Gill.

Uhura had been a little disappointed when the dates were announced for this particular mission, but really who could blame her? Having to spend your birthday working is seldom a good time for anyone.

Sensing her disappointment, and having had such a good time at his own party, Spock had taken it upon himself to organize a formal event both for her birthday and for the remaining Vulcan elders and ambassadors. He had organized it so that it would be appealing to both humans and Vulcans, complete with a fusion menu and musical ensemble consisting of both Vulcan and Terran musicians.

From a cultural standpoint, it sounded fascinating. Getting to interact with the Vulcans who as a people had not had much cause for celebration in the last year, and getting to hear their music and speak with them about their art and language...it was a rare opportunity, to be sure.

Okay, so let's be honest; it was a little annoying to have to share her birthday with another big event. Fortunately, the rest of the guys had all assured her that it hadn't been forgotten or anything. Chekov even kept teasing her about the amazing present he and Sulu had gotten her. But there was one other, more minor matter, and it was the true source of Nyota's consternation.

His father and uncle were going to be there.

She had briefly seen Sarek during the _Nerada_ incident, but in all of the chaos they had never been properly introduced. Spock had also kept mentioning how this uncle Selek was very interested in meeting her. Apparently he and Spock were quite close, although she couldn't recall him mentioning this uncle before. Probably just typical Vulcan down-playing.

This whole thing was pretty nerve-wracking.

Nyota wasn't worried so much about Sarek looking down on her for being human; he had, after all, married Spock's mother once upon a time. It was just...she was meeting his father as his girlfriend. That meant they were serious, in some ways more serious than even she had been thinking. She was terrified in a way she hadn't been since her father had caught her with the neighbor boy in their tool shed.

She stood in front of the mirror in her and Spock's bathroom, with her hair loose around her shoulders as she fingered the cream colored silk gown she had picked out for the evening. Maybe she should have decided on the dress uniform instead. Or a suit.

Nyota glanced at the chronometer on the bathroom counter. She was already fashionably late; if she dilly-dallied any longer she would be crossing the line into rudeness.

She sighed once, and stepped out of her bathrobe before putting the dress on. The dress was backless, so she planned on putting her hair up in a style similar to those Vulcan women traditionally wore. A simple pair of gold earrings and a necklace would complete the look.

It wasn't a huge deal right? She could do this. She'd faced worse already in the short time they had been in space. What was a father and uncle?

Nyota closed her eyes for a moment. She took two deep breaths before she reopened them.

Time to get to work on her hair.

\-----

Jim Kirk stood in the back by the table of canapes as he subtly pulled on the collar of his dress uniform jacket once. It was the first time he had been forced into wearing it since the voyage had begun and he had to admit he hadn't been this physically uncomfortable since he was a kid. Maybe it just needed to be broken in more or something.

He glanced next to him at Sulu, who was helping himself to some sort of Vulcan caviar...thing. He was also in his dress uniform, although Sulu's was the command gold while Jim's was this inexplicable shade of green.

Must be some sort of Captain thing or something.

“Think Uhura's going to like this?” He asked as he picked up a flute of champagne.

Sulu shrugged. “It's hard to say. This isn't exactly how she normally celebrates.” Last year's birthday party had consisted of a night at a bar pretty close to the Academy. “I think she'll be all right, but I know she's a bit anxious about meeting his dad.” He took a bite of the canape and his eyes lit up. Vulcan cooking, who knew? He reached for another.

Jim nodded. “Yeah I've never been in that position so I can only imagine. Although now that I think about it, both of Bones's parents are dead so I guess it wouldn't matter.”

For some reason, this made Sulu pause. It wasn't like it was that big of a deal, he was just talking about Bones. He turned to look at Jim with an expression that the captain couldn't quite read.

Whatever, he worked with a group of weirdoes.

He dropped a strawberry into the bottom of his glass. As the ensemble started a new song, he took a sip.

“Oh good, there's booze,” called a familiar voice from behind him. “I was worried that we'd be stuck with water and that godawful tea Spock's always drinking.”

Jim turned and what he saw before him made him sputter a few times.

McCoy stood in his dress uniform, perfectly pressed and polished. The dark blue of the jacket was doing nice things to his skin tone and brought out something in his hair. It also made his eyes appear lighter than usual and slightly greenish. He must have just taken a shower, because Jim could smell his aftershave lotion. The captain's mouth went mysteriously dry and he swallowed. Must be because he hadn't gotten laid in a while.

The mildly bored look on the doctor's face suddenly shifted to one of concern. “What's wrong? Is there a stain?” He looked down to check his jacket for any damage or marks.

Jim finally blinked. “What? No there's...nothing's wrong. Why?”

“You're staring, so I just assumed.” Bones brushed some lint off his left shoulder. Sulu was giving the captain an encouraging look.

“Oh. No you just...you look...” He had the urge to say something along the lines of _great_. Or _awesome_. Or maybe even something along the lines of _like sex on toast_. What came out was “...Healthy.”

He cringed.

He also wasn't the only one, as Sulu was as well. The pilot grabbed a drink, mumbling a succinct “Wow.”

Bones tilted his head to one side and looked at Jim as if he had spontaneously become Andorian. “...Thanks?” The doctor shook his head once, then reached down for a canape and napkin. After investigating it for a moment, he popped it into his mouth. Much like Sulu, his eyes lit up at the flavor.

“I have to say, this isn't bad.” Jim said to both of his friends as he took another sip of his champagne. “I expected a Vulcan shindig to be a lot drier.”

“At least they're not doing stand-up philosophy,” Bones commented as he got his own glass.

“I just hope she likes it.” Sulu looked around the room.

“Yeah, nothing says 'Nyota Uhura' like a customized cocktail napkin,” Bones said as he held out the aforementioned piece of paper. Sulu and Kirk both looked at it with wide eyes.

“Yikes.” Jim held it closer to his face for inspection. “That's just...yikes.”

“I feel like it's my wedding all over again, but with better music and less vomiting.” The others gave him a weird look. “What?”

“What is it with you and puking? Like shuttle rides, and being beamed places, and your wedding?” Jim's smile was playful.

“Oh shut up, all of those things are nerve-wracking. I'm allowed to have weaknesses, Jim, I'm a human being.”

“I'm just saying, most weaknesses don't come with projectile vomiting.”

“What the hell is that?”

“What?” Bones gestured at his flute.“Oh. It brings out the flavors in the champagne.” Jim shrugged. Sulu looked down at his with interest, before following his captain's example. He took a sip slowly. Huh, Kirk was right. Bones rolled his eyes at the two of them.

At this moment, a somewhat harried looking Uhura came up to them, half-empty champagne flute in hand. Jim let out a low whistle at her appearance.

“You clean up nice, Lieutenant.”

Uhura pointedly ignored him. “Have you seen Spock?”

“Not recently,” McCoy said as he thought for a moment. “I saw him a while ago when I came in. He was talking to a Vulcan that I assume is his father.”

“Oh. Good.”

“Good?”

Uhura downed the rest of her champagne and promptly grabbed another. Sulu, Bones, and Jim all exchanged looks.

“This is a beautiful gathering,” Sulu began diplomatically. Uhura nodded as she gulped down a quick mouthful of champagne. That was somewhat troubling.

“Not me, I'm bored out of my mind.” Jim elbowed the doctor in the ribs. “What?”

“What he means is, this party is a very interesting study in cultural exchanges. It's nice to see so many Vulcans celebrating by...talking seriously to one another.” She nodded at the captain with a somewhat stilted smile on her face. Her expression quickly became more serious as she finished off her drink.

Warning bells started to go off in Sulu's head. “Nyota, are you okay?”

“Spock and I have been dating for a year and a half,” she began. “A lot of that time was spent avoiding the appearance of impropriety.” She sighed. “Anytime I would try to get him to go out with me, I'd get a comment about how it 'would be contrary to the appearance of teacher-student relations and be potentially damaging to both our reputations' and end up going out alone.” Uncharacteristically, she fidgeted for a moment. “So now here I am and the third time we do anything publicly as a couple is the time where I'm being introduced to his very Vulcan relatives.” Her face formed another weak smile. “No pressure.”

“You'll do fine.” Sulu smiled at her. “He wouldn't be doing this if you weren't important to him.”

She looked around the room nervously. “Well, you know how Vulcans are. It makes me feel like I'm being judged.”

“You probably are.”

“Bones.” The doctor looked mildly chastened as he grabbed another canape and the captain pat her once on the arm. “It'll be okay, you at least have us to entertain you until the big moment. Oh and hey, reinforcements are here.”

Having just gotten off duty, Scotty, and Chekov made their way over. They were also in their dress uniforms, and had gifts. Scotty beamed at them as Chekov took a sip of his champagne and pulled a face.

“How anyone can drink this beyond me,” he grumbled. “Happy Birthday!”

“Thanks, Pavel.” Without another word, she took the flute out of his hands and drank it down. Might as well go where it would be appreciated. Chekov stared at his hand with a confused look on his face. McCoy snorted.

“Happy Birthday, Uhura,” Scotty said as he handed her a box. “From me and the gang down in Engineering.”

“That one's from Pavel and I,” Sulu pointed at the box tucked under the ensign's arm. She took both with a smile and added it to a nearby table full of gifts. “Having fun?”

“Sure why not,” she managed. “Garçon, arrêtes-toi!” A waiter having been locked into her sights, she took off after him.

“I should probably not be surprised she knows French,” Kirk tilted his head to one side. “I mean, why not French?”

“Russian too,” Pavel supplied.

Sulu helped himself to the caviar. “In addition to being proficient in eighty-seven percent of the Federation languages, she's also knowledgeable in Swahili, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch, Afrikaans, Japanese, Russian, French, and Mandarin Chinese. She said something once that if you can master Klingon, everything else is pretty easy.” Everyone stared at him for a moment, Scotty finally giving a low whistle. Needless to say, they were all impressed.

“Damn am I glad she's on our side,” Kirk said with a smile.

The topic of conversation returned, this time with a full flute of champagne. The smile was less forced on her face and the nervous shaking had stopped. She seemed almost...unnaturally calm compared to how she had been mere moments ago.

McCoy and Sulu looked at each other for a moment before the former furrowed his brow. “Uhura, how many of those have you had?”

“....Seven I think, and a half,” she chirped without hesitation. She took a sip. “This'll be...eight? And a half? I'm a xenolinguist, we don't do so well with the math thing.”

“Oh dear,” Scotty managed to say while holding back his laughter. Jim and Chekov also appeared to be rather amused. McCoy rolled his eyes.

“I'm going to go get her some water.” The doctor took off after the nearest waiter.

“Oh I'm not drunk,” Uhura was grinning now. “I'm really not, I'm just happy. It's my birthday!” Jim put one of his hands over his mouth to hide his grin as she took another sip of her drink. “I'm twenty-three and it's my birthday!”

Sulu leaned in and took a small smell of her. “No offense, Nyota, but you smell like a distillery.”

“I do not!” Forgetting she had nearly a full glass of champagne in her hand, she placed both of her hands on her hips. The champagne splashed out of her glass onto the floor, narrowly missing Chekov's uniform. She sat the now empty glass down and took a smell of her hair. “I do not smell like a distillery. I smell like...lavender. It's my shampoo.”

McCoy returned at that moment with a large glass of water and handed it to her. “Now sip on this for a little while, we...” She took the water from him and downed it like she did the champagne. Bones sighed. “...Don't want you making yourself sick.”

“Hmm?” She sat the empty glass down. “Doctor?”

“Never mind.” He looked around the room when he noticed an older Vulcan coming towards them. “Oh shit.”

The others all noticed at the same moment, the smiles running away from their faces. Chekov especially looked scared. “They cannot see her like this.”

“It's okay, we'll figure something out,” Jim said as he thought quickly. “If we do most of the talking, he shouldn't pick up on anything.”

Scotty nodded. “Aye, let's act like we're having a normal conversation and when he comes over, he'll leave quickly because he interrupted us.” Scotty looked at Sulu expectantly, who suddenly was very interested in Doctor McCoy. Chekov took Uhura's arm and pulled her so they all stood in a circle.

Catching on quickly, McCoy straightened up immediately. “And that was when I told her that we couldn't holiday in Biloxi anymore.”

“Right,” Jim said. “Great story, Bones.”

“Captain, Doctor,” the Vulcan spoke up from just outside their circle. “I am sorry to interrupt but if I may borrow Lieutenant Uhura for a moment?”

Nyota was beaming. “Hello!” Fortunately, Chekov still had her arm and held it before she could cause a scene. It took Kirk a moment to recognize the Vulcan and when he did it caused a double-take. The man shook his head slightly as if to say _don't say anything_ and then turned his attention back to Uhura.

“Greetings, Nyota, I am Spock's...uncle, Selek.” The elder Vulcan gave the traditional salute to her. She smiled at him and gave it back in turn. Remarkably, he smiled at her. “It is very nice to get to see you, Lieutenant. I trust you are well.”

“Oh, I'm...great.” She smiled at him. “Fantastic even.” The others stood around her somewhat awkwardly, not wanting to leave her alone with him in her state.

“Selek” tilted his head to one side and gave her an appraising stare. “Spock has told me a great deal about you and your incredible talents as a xenolinguist.” He gently took her by the arm and the two of them walked a short distance away to talk, leaving the other five to watch them nervously.

“Do you think he knows?” Chekov whispered.

“I'm pretty sure he'll figure it out.” Bones crossed his arms. “We have to get her out of here.”

“Yeah but how?” Sulu looked around the room. “Spock will kind-of pick up on the fact that she isn't here.”

At this, Selek began to steer Nyota back to her friends, and if he seemed a little friendlier with her than he perhaps ought to have been, no one noticed.

“Enjoy the rest of the evening, Nyota,” the man calling himself Selek said in a wistful tone. Before he began to walk away, he gestured for Jim to follow. The others quickly surrounded her once more, Sulu and Chekov holding her as she had become a bit unsteady. “While in my timeline, Lieutenant Uhura and I were not...intimate,” he whispered into the captain's ear, “I have seen her intoxicated on a number of occasions. Perhaps you should have someone escort her to sick bay before Sarek notices her. While our father is more tolerant of humans than many Vulcans, there are still lines that are better left uncrossed.”

Jim nodded. “Yeah, we'll take care of it. But really, sir...Selek? Spock's 'uncle'?” He raised an eyebrow. “That was the best you could come up with?”

The elder Spock shrugged. “We found ourselves pressed for time.” His smile turned somewhat sad as his thoughts turned to a woman from another realm. “In certain respects Nyota Uhura is my one regret, Jim. I consider myself fortunate for having seen her one final time.”

Jim smiled at him. He couldn't blame him for that. “Take care, _Selek_. And don't be a stranger.” Spock merely raised smiled in return and made his way back through the crowd.

Scotty sighed with relief. “That was close. Maybe now we'll get to see a sober Uhura make a reappearance.”

Except for the part where Uhura was nowhere to be found.

“Oh Lord,” Jim groaned. “Okay we'll split up and whoever finds her, call Bones on your communicator and rendez-vous in sick bay. We need to...”

“Captain?” Chekov was staring in the direction of the stage.

“Yeah?”

The ensign pointed. “Found her.”

Uhura was whispering something to the music ensemble, who were all nodding enthusiastically at her. They lifted their instruments in preparation. She grabbed a microphone.

“Hi everyone, I'm the ship's communications officer Uhura,” she said with a smile. “In the spirit of cultural exchange, I'm here to exchange cultures with you all! Here's one of my favorite Terran pop songs, hope you all enjoy it.”

“This isn't funny anymore.” Scotty whispered to no one in particular. The captain was frozen with one of his hands covering his open mouth.

An upbeat sounding rhythm began to play on the organ and Uhura swayed her hips in time to the music. A couple of the musicians started chanting the word “Yeah” over and over again. Taking her cue, she began to sing.

“Well, I love you but I have to stay true.  
My morals got me on my knees, I'm begging please...  
Stop playing games.

I don't know what this but you got me good,  
Just like you knew you would.  
I don't know what you do but you do it well,  
I'm under your spell.

You got me begging you for mercy...”

Across the room, Spock and his father, who had been in mid-conversation stopped what they were doing and turned to the stage. Sarek in particular was interested in what was going on, as he was somewhat familiar with this particular Terran song.

“Nyota?” Spock raised his eyebrows.

“Nyota?” Sarek was looking more intently at the singing woman. “She is the one that would be yours?”

“Ah...yes, father.” What was she doing?

“You got me begging you for mercy,  
You got me begging down on my knees,  
I said you got me begging, you got me begging you for mercy,  
You got me begging...”

To her credit, she was doing a really good job. Unsurprisingly, the Vulcans were all staring as if investigating a science experiment. As for the group of humans at the back of the room, well...

Jim's face was now covered by both of his hands and Bones had pursed his lips. Scotty and Chekov were dancing along with the music until Sulu glared at them.

“What?” Scotty whispered as he did the cabbage patch. “We'll confuse them into submission by making it look normal!”

“Except for where you two dancing? Is so far out of normal's range it missed it by a country mile,” Bones hissed.

“Get her off the stage,” Jim muttered. “I don't care how, just get her off the stage, get her off the stage, _get her off the stage_.”

“On it,” Sulu said. He began to make his way through the crowd, McCoy quickly following. The music ended and the room, amazingly, erupted into applause. The human officers all stopped what they were doing and stared.

“I had no idea Terran customs could be so evocative,” a Vulcan elder whispered to his nearby companion. She nodded several times.

Uhura stood, smiling and waving to the crowd. Sulu had finally made his way up the stage and lightly grabbed her by the arm. He whispered something in her ear and she just smiled brighter.

“Hikaru says I have to go now,” she said into the mic as he began to pull her away. “So, goodbye!”

Some in the crowd made disappointed sounds but everyone continued to applaud as she made her way off the stage. McCoy grabbed her other arm and the two men steered her through people and to the door, passing by their friends on the way.

“If Spock comes looking for her, cover for us!” Bones called over his shoulder.

Jim nodded, his eyes momentarily drifting downwards over his friend's body. He shook his head slowly. They needed to come up with a story and quickly before Spock showed up.

\-----

They had barely managed to get Uhura down two decks in the turbolift before she started complaining that she was hot and dizzy. Privately, McCoy was surprised it had taken this long, with all of the champagne she had guzzled. Sulu was now holding her upright more than just slightly supporting her weight and finally the door opened to the medical wing.

The trio slowly made their way inside, and eventually McCoy broke off from the other two.

“Okay, just sit her on a biobed, I'll go to get a hypo ready...” He made his way over to the cabinet they specifically kept for hangover supplies. Hey, this was the youngest crew in Starfleet. Shit happened.

“Doctor?”

“Yeah, sweetheart,” he said somewhat soothingly without looking up. There was the saline and aspirin mixture they saved for special cases like this. As he loaded it into the chamber as quickly as he could, he heard the unmistakeable sound of someone vomiting. Slowly, he turned around.

Uhura had thrown up all over the pilot's pants and shoes.

Sulu had turned completely white.

McCoy winced in sympathy.

Uhura wiped her mouth with the back of her hand shakily. She was pale, but the important thing was that none had splashed back onto her or her dress.

“Decontamination shower,” Sulu choked out.

“Third door on the left,” McCoy supplied helpfully. “There are scrubs in that room too, so you can change.”

Sulu nodded, and without another word turned and headed to the door in question. Bones was pretty sure that if it could slam, it would have at that moment. Being careful to avoid the mess on the floor, he gently pushed her head to one side and carefully injected the hypo into her neck. She cringed a little, but began to regain her normal coloring within a few seconds. A nurse came over with cleaning supplies, with a decidedly not thrilled look on his face.

A few minutes passed before the doctor folded his arms across his chest. “Better?”

“A bit,” she said as she looked down at her shoes. “He's going to dump me, isn't he? I mean, I probably would. I think.”

“Nah,” he said. “He probably won't understand if you explain it because I don't think Vulcans do nerves, but he wouldn't break up with you over this.” Bones shrugged. “Maybe if you had puked on Sarek, or been off-key. But not just for this.”

She nodded, and then carefully stood up. He gave her his arm and they made their way out of the med bay and back to the party.

\-----

“He'll never believe that humans do that on their birthdays, he's seen ours,” Jim sighed with exasperation.

“You come up with something, all you do is shoot us down,” Chekov grumbled. Scotty nodded his agreement.

So far, none of the ideas they had for covering up Uhura's nervous inebriation had been useful. Everything from “she thought it was a karaoke party” to “what do you mean she doesn't always sing before a large group of Vulcans, she does this all the time” had been suggested and none of the excuses would get past Spock's radar. Time was running short, as he had been slowly making his way across the room with his father ever since the others had left.

“Selek” had managed to look simultaneously appalled and impressed with her performance.

Jim was about to share his idea of a champagne allergy when Uhura and Bones stepped back into the room. She was clearly much better than she had been, going by the somewhat relieved look on the doctor's face.

“Hey I think he's coming,” Scotty nodded slightly to the right of them. Sure enough, there was Spock and his father, a few feet away. “You ready?”

Uhura took a deep breath. “As I'll ever be.”

“Lieutenant,” Spock took a breath of his own. “This is my father, Sarek.”

Sarek gave her the Vulcan greeting and she returned it. “Peace and long life, S'chn T'gai Sarek.”

Sarek raised an eyebrow, obviously intrigued by her. “Live long and prosper, Nyota Uhura.” They lowered their hands, and the other bridge officers collectively let out their breaths. “I am most impressed with your knowledge of our customs, as well as your vocal talents.”

Inside her head, Nyota threw herself out of an airlock. Outwardly, she simply said “Oh?”

“Yes, my wife was rather fond of that genre of Terran music. Pop, I believe it is called. Over the years I found it rather inspiring myself. I would like to discuss it further with you, as Amanda was prone to doing something similar on certain occasions.”

Uhura, finally, smiled. “I would like that very much.” Spock looked moderately pleased at this and he offered her his arm. She took it and the three of them walked away with much to talk about.

“Well, that makes me feel warm and fuzzy,” Jim smiled. “But where's Sulu?”

Bones shrugged, then reached for a fresh glass of champagne. “Remember what happened when we first met?”

“Well yeah, we just talked about it an hour ago, you got si...oh. Nice.”

“You are now officially not the only one of us to have been thrown up on by your best friend.” Bones raised his glass in a toast. “Congratulations.”

Rolling his eyes, Jim drank with him.

  
[Kirk](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/22788.html) | [McCoy](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/23374.html)


	6. Stop (The Love You Save)

_**Fic: Stop (The Love You Save) Chapter Six: McCoy**_  
Title: Stop (The Love You Save)  
Series: Star Trek reboot  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairings: All roads lead to Kirk/Bones, but there is Spock/Uhura, some slight Scotty/Uhura, and as always Sulu/Awesome.

So how exactly did each of our favorite seven crew members celebrate their first birthday during the start of the five year mission? In no order, we have a rager, a quiet dinner, a pub crawl, a surprise party, a formal event, a restaurant booked in San Francisco, and a special visitor. This also answers the question...how exactly _did_ Jim fall in love with his best friend?

This is a prequel to “Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance.)" It starts five weeks after the five year mission began and ends a month before "Variations."

Yes, this fic is named after the [Jackson Five song](%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYexVjOjGYA%E2%80%9D). The Jackson Five were awesome, and I will love them until the day I die.

Relevant to this chapter: Remember how I said the theme of “Variations on a Theme” was McCoy being dumb and how this fic's theme is Jim needing to grow up? Well, here you go.

It had begun ten days ago, seemingly innocuously enough, and it had only gotten worse as time had progressed.

“Christine!” Leonard McCoy suddenly shouted. “I need those requisition forms on my desk yesterday! What are you, on vacation or something? Where the hell are they?”

Christine Chapel nearly dropped the PADD in her hands, sheerly out of being startled.

Not again.

She then rolled her eyes before turning to face him.

Sure, the Chief Medical Officer was known for for his somewhat...cantankerous nature, but he didn't usually shout at people unless the Captain was bleeding out on his operating table. This would normally be a cause for concern, but she was a little too annoyed as it had been happening damn near constantly lately. “The requisition forms that are due _two weeks_ from now?”

“We'll be in deeper space at that point!” Leonard was glaring at her. “I need to get them in _now_ if I want those supplies by the time we're at Starbase Thirteen.” The tone of his voice was along the lines of _what are you, new?_ and it made her back stiffen and her eyes narrow.

“Fine.” She sat the PADD down and clenched her fists. “Anything else?”

“Oh I'm sure I'll come up with something in a few minutes.” And with that, he stalked off back into his office, Nurse Quinn catching sight of him and abruptly running in the opposite direction before he could see her. Chris was fairly certain that if the doors on the _Enterprise_ could slam, his would have.

She took a deep, cleansing breath, held it in for five seconds, then exhaled. A hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up into the face of Geoffrey M'Benga.

“He's been like that to everyone.” Geoff shrugged. “Especially me. I think he's just not sleeping well or something.”

“Or something is right.” She put her hands on her hips. “I'm frankly losing my patience with it. He actually made Yeoman Barrows _cry_ yesterday when she came in for an ibuprofen hypo.”

Geoff looked mildly confused. “But Yeoman Barrows always cries...”

Chris hated to admit it, but there was something to that. She had seen it firsthand at Spock's birthday party. “The point being, it's unprofessional. Suppose he loses it like that in the middle of a surgery?”

“He loses it like that in surgery all the time and still performs brilliantly,” Geoff pointed out. “But I can see what you mean. People assisting him could end up walking out at this rate.” He ran his hands through his hair. “He has been really overboard lately. Maybe if we talk to him...”

She shook her head. “No that won't work. You know how he gets about personal things.” She thought for a moment. “No, I think we need to go to a higher authority on this. You're on Gamma shift tomorrow, right?”

Sensing where she was going with this, Geoff merely replied with “Yeah.”

“Perfect, I work Beta.” Chris stared at the shut door of the CMO's office thoughtfully for a moment before finally continuing with, “You and I have a date on the Bridge at 1000.”

\-----

The next evening, Captain James T. Kirk found himself standing in front of the closed door of his best friend's office. He tilted his head to one side and thought for a moment before finally pushing the entry bell.

“Go away,” came the reply.

“Bones, it's me,” Jim sighed. “We both know I'm coming in one way or another, so just save me the trouble, yeah?”

There was a pause for about a full minute before the door finally slid open and a tired and somewhat broken-looking McCoy stood on the other side. “What?”

For a moment, Jim was caught up in the irrational urge to reach out to Bones and...he wasn't really sure what else, but he wanted to make that sad look go away very badly. He mentally shook himself and finally brushed past him into the office. “Well hi, it's nice to see you too, especially since I haven't in like five days.”

Bones sighed. “Why are you here, Jim?”

“I'd kind of like to know why my CMO has decided to play verbal target practice with my medical staff for almost two weeks.” Jim crossed his arms. “And why he's been hiding in his office or his quarters for things like his meals and downtime.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

Jim added cocking his head to one side and raising both of his eyebrows to the crossed arms. It was his _don't bullshit me, I know you because I **am** you, Bones, so answer the fucking question_ look.

Which, for the record, Bones hated because he never won against that look.

Ever.

The doctor sighed and walked to his desk. He opened one of the drawers and took out a PADD. A file was quickly pulled up and, without so much as a look directly at Jim's face, he handed it over. Jim held the PADD out a little from his face and read silently for a moment.

“This is a denied request for leave.” He finally looked up, to where his friend was still looking down at the floor. Something about that made him hurt, but he had more important things to worry about at the moment. “If you wanted a vacation, Bones, all you had to do...”

“It wasn't for an extended leave. Just three days while we're near Cerebus.”

Cerebus?

Wait.

“You wanted to go see Jo?”

Leonard's silence spoke volumes.

“Bones.” Jim put the PADD on the desk and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. “Why didn't you just tell me? I would've...”

“Would've what?” Bones finally looked at him then and the sheer upset and frustration there made Jim ache inside, probably from sympathy. “There's nothing you can do for me here short of begging Pike for a favor. I can't , and more importantly, won't ask that of you.” He sighed. “I tried, they said no. I'll just...call her, I suppose, on Friday.”

Friday, which also happened to be Bones's thirty-second birthday.

Jim was suddenly filled with a rage that he hadn't felt in _years_.

How the hell _dare_ they?

The entire time they had been at the Academy, Bones had been forced to settle for seeing his only child during breaks when the ex-wife would permit it. Now his daughter was studying abroad on Cerebus, where his ship was going to be very close to on his birthday and they wouldn't even grant a stop over or an hour for lunch? If he didn't see her this weekend he might not get another chance for a completely indeterminate period of time!

This was beyond unacceptable.

Jim suddenly knew two things.

The first was that Starfleet was going to get an earful in a very short amount of time.

The second was that he was going to do whatever it took in order to get Bones his birthday wish.

He thought for a moment, before finally saying “Okay.” Jim exhaled sharply. While he was here, he did have one thing to attend to. He had made a promise, after all. “Can you stop yelling at your staff? I mean, they have nothing to do with this.”

Bones winced. “Geoff and Christine?”

“Geoff and Chris, yeah.” Jim nodded. “Aside from being worried, they're reaching the end of their ropes. Just...do me a solid and be a bit nicer to them?”

“Yeah, I'll apologize.” The doctor rubbed one of his hands down his face. “I really would like to be left alone now, though, Jim.”

He didn't really want to leave him alone, but he needed to get back to the bridge before the shift change and Uhura and Sulu disappeared. “Sure Bones.” He placed his hand on his shoulder for a second, before regretfully taking it back away. “I'll get out of your way.”

With that he took his leave of the medical wing and headed back to the turbolift.

Pike had told him once to call him if he ever needed anything while out in space, and if ever there was a time to cash in on that it was now. He probably needed Komack and Barnett for this too, while he was thinking about it. Aside from keeping the cadet crew in tact, Jim had asked for surprisingly little when he had been given his command. He figured asking for a couple of things now wouldn't be out of bounds.

The lift doors opened to the bridge and he stepped onto it. He dimly heard Hannity say “Captain on the Bridge” before he stopped in front of his chair. Spock began to get up but he gestured at him to stay seated.

“Sulu. Uhura,” he barked. “Ready Room. Now.” He promptly spun on his heel and headed back to the turbolift, hearing the two of them getting up behind him. They followed him closely and then they rode the lift down to the next deck together in silence.

Jim exited the lift first, walking hurriedly to the room in question. Sulu and Uhura exchanged a glance before running after him. Once inside, he shut the door and locked it using his override.

“Okay. What I tell you both stays between the three of us.”

The lieutenants nodded.

“Uhura, I need you to get me Starfleet command last week. Tell them it's urgent I speak with Admiral Pike. After that I'll need comms to Barnett requesting a change in course to Cerebus. Make sure these are sent with priority level one, as we have to be there Friday. Sulu, I'm going to need you to get us there as quickly as possible, get with Chekov if you have to on the course we take. Then I'm going to need you to switch shifts with Riley Friday morning so you can take a shuttle down and...”

“Sir?” Uhura was a combination of confused and irritated. Sulu nodded at her encouragingly. “I understand that this is apparently very important, and I'm certainly not implying that we would disobey direct orders, but it would be helpful if you could explain to us exactly what this is regarding.”

He had left that part out, hadn't he?

Jim deflated somewhat. He did need them on his side, after all. “Doctor McCoy's daughter is on Cerebus, so I'm trying to arrange a birthday surprise for him. Hence the time factor.”

The other two looked at each other for a moment before Sulu finally spoke up. “I don't understand why he can't just go see her.”

Jim had been prepared for that question. “Because Starfleet told him no.” He folded his arms behind his back. “So when the mountain can't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. I don't care what favors I have to call in or what forms or what rules I break. He's going to see his daughter Friday.”

It was after he said them that Jim had realized every word he was saying was true. He would fly the shuttle himself if he had to to get her on board. He would go over Starfleet's heads if necessary, if only to make Bones smile. And he would do it every year if that was what it would take to make him happy.

He felt like he should wonder about that a little more, but he had more important things to do at that moment like securing permission to get a civilian visitor on board his ship while making sure that Bones did not find out about it until the big reveal.

Sulu and Uhura were looking at each other again, a look he had seen them exchange once or twice in the last few months. It was like they were having a conversation about him without speaking and he had to admit, it was a bit unnerving.

“Sure, Captain,” Sulu finally said. “Whatever we have to do, we'll do. And we'll keep it quiet.”

Jim nodded. “Good. Now let's head back so I can compose those messages.” He turned and unlocked the door, making his way out of the room.

Sulu and Uhura held back for a moment, and they exchanged yet another look.

She was proficient in over eighty-seven percent of the languages used by the Federation and the only thing Uhura found she could say was, “Wow.”

They followed him back to work.

\-----

The big day finally arrived and Jim found himself pacing on the bridge.

It had taken the permission of five different admirals and a headmaster, but he had finally gotten his course change and visitor allowance. Joanna would only be permitted on the Enterprise for twelve hours before having to be flown back to her school. He had also worked something out with Geoff where he would pull a double-shift in medical so that Bones would have his entire day free to be with her. One of the rec rooms was on standby for them to use all to themselves and he had given Muriel a list of Jo's favorite foods for lunch and dinner.

This, more than anything else had made Jim believe he had the most outstanding crew in the 'fleet. Chekov and Sulu had pulled extra hours to get them there on time, Scotty had worked another of his miracles to help power the shift, and the amount of red tape Uhura and Spock helped him navigate through was absolutely staggering. He had already recommended all of them for commendations, although something told him he was pushing his luck there.

“Sulu to bridge, Lieutenant Sulu to bridge, I've got the package. Requesting permission to dock,” a familiar voice rang out over the commlink. Jim stopped suddenly.

“Kirk to Sulu, come on in,” he managed. “Scotty, you get that?”

“Aye sir,” Scotty's voice rang over the link. “Opening shuttle bay doors now.”

“Perfect.” Chekov and Spock were already down there with him, and undoubtedly Geoff and Christine were on their way. “Hawkins, relieve Lieutenant Uhura. DeSalle, you have the Conn.” With that, the two of them stepped onto the turbo lift and headed down to the shuttle bay, Jim nervously rubbing his left hand with his right.

“Are you all right?” Uhura looked at him.

“Fine.” He wasn't fine, not really. “I just...I really want him to be happy. Today, I mean.”

For some reason, Uhura smiled at him reassuringly. She placed one of her hands on his shoulder. “After all that you've done for him, I don't see how he couldn't be.” She looked somewhat hesitant before continuing. “He's very lucky to have you, you know, someone who will do anything for him.”

He looked at her for a moment and before he could ask her what she meant, they had arrived. The lift door opened and she stepped out. He followed her and took his place next to the rest of the group in the control room, already assembled. Sulu had already finished docking and the bay doors were closing. The shuttle opened and he stepped off first, presumably to help Joanna down.

The turbo lift door opened and Bones stepped out of it. Shit, he was early! How was he early?

“Uh, hey Bones, what are you doing here?” He went up to his friend and hoped that his face wasn't too nervous.

“I was on my way to lunch when I got a message on my PADD to come here.” The doctor, understandably, was suspicious. “None of you are injured, though, so I don't understand what I'm doing here. Or what any of you are doing here. At all.” It was then that Sulu came through the shuttle bay control room doors, holding them open for something Bones couldn't see. He narrowed his eyes. “What's going...”

“Daddy?”

At this, two things happened.

McCoy froze.

And everyone else began to smile at him.

There she was, honey-blonde hair and hazel eyes in her school uniform with a bag on one shoulder. Joanna McCoy, age eight.

Without knowing he was doing it, Bones had knelt down. His daughter ran at top speed into his open arms, and he closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair.

“Happy Birthday, Daddy!” She hugged him back as hard as she could. “I missed you so much!”

“Me too, baby girl,” he said softly. “Me too.” He started to smile and if he sounded a little choked up, everyone else pretended not to notice.

How could they? More than one or two of them were there themselves.

Finally having confirmed for himself that this was real, Bones opened his eyes and looked up at his friends just in time to see Uhura and Scotty stoically wipe away tears. Reluctantly, he let his daughter go and stood up.

“I...” He cleared his throat and he realized that he was grinning like a fool. There went his reputation. “I honestly don't know what to say.”

“It was the Captain,” Sulu supplied. “We just lent a hand.”

“Yes,” Uhura agreed. “Everything was his doing.”

Jim looked at them confused. Under other circumstances this would have made him feel awesome, but this time he found all he could do was blush. Before he could protest, his best friend stood in front of him.

“I thought I said not to,” he whispered.

Jim shrugged and looked down at the floor. “You...you said you couldn't ask it of me. Not that I wasn't allowed to...” he trailed off as he looked back up.

The look on the doctor's face...it was like swimming in pure joy.

He had never, ever seen his friend look happier in all of the time they had known each other. Something inside of Jim broke and melted at this, knowing that he had a part in causing such happiness in someone else.

In this particular someone else.

It made him feel incredibly light and fairly joyful himself.

“You've got until 2200.” He finally managed to say. “So you should go...you know, go be with her and have fun.”

Bones looked at him again before pulling him into a tight hug. At first, Jim found his back stiffened at the contact but before he knew it, his arms had come up to return the embrace. His mouth had gone dry and his heart was thudding irregularly in his chest. Bones smelled really nice and it felt really good, being in his arms. Almost like he belonged there.

Oh.

Now _wait a minute_.

Bones let go and Jim unhappily did the same as he pasted a frozen smile onto his face. “Jim, I don't know how I can ever...”

“Just...enjoy the day, okay?” Kirk cut him off. He felt like he couldn't breathe and he really needed Bones to get _away_ from him. “Clock's ticking, so you'd better go!” He shooed him away, and Bones obliged without another word as he went back to Joanna.

“Well baby girl, what would you like to do first?” Bones took his daughter's hand, that same joy-filled expression never leaving his face. Jo beamed up at him.

“I want to see sick bay!”

“Sick bay hm?” Bones led her out of the shuttle bay, Geoff and Christine following not too far behind. “Well the officer's mess is on the way, so how about some lunch first? I think we've got strawberry ice cream today...” The shuttle bay door closed behind them, leaving Scotty and the bridge crew behind. They all turned to look at Jim.

“I think he needs a moment,” Scotty whispered. Sulu nodded as he glanced to a Kirk that was frozen to his spot, a completely terrified look having since replaced the fake smile.

“Spock, why don't you take the conn for a few minutes?”

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow at Sulu. “If we are heading back to the bridge, Captain Kirk should...”

“Spock,” Uhura said gently. “Not now.”

The Vulcan looked down at his lover and to the Captain twice before finally nodding his assent. Chekov looked at Sulu with a confused expression and the pilot made a gesture that clearly meant _I'll tell you later_. He started to protest, but seeing the stern look on Sulu's face made him change his mind.

With that, the four of them headed out of the shuttle bay and back to the bridge, leaving Jim alone.

His looked down at his hands, which were shaking.

Fuck.

  
[Uhura](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/23105.html) | [Sulu](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/23738.html)


	7. Stop (The Love You Save)

_**Fic: Stop (The Love You Save) Chapter Seven: Sulu**_  
Title: Stop (The Love You Save)  
Series: Star Trek reboot  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairings: All roads lead to Kirk/Bones, but there is Spock/Uhura, some slight Scotty/Uhura, and as always Sulu/Awesome.

So how exactly did each of our favorite seven crew members celebrate their first birthday during the start of the five year mission? In no order, we have a rager, a quiet dinner, a pub crawl, a surprise party, a formal event, a restaurant booked in San Francisco, and a special visitor. This also answers the question...how exactly _did_ Jim fall in love with his best friend?

This is a prequel to “Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance),” while the epilogue is meant to fill a gap between “You Can Save that Drama (For Another Day)” and the upcoming “The Movie Never Ends (It Goes On and On and On and On.)” It is not necessary to read both to understand this story, but it might be helpful in some areas.

This starts five weeks into the five year mission and ends a month before “Variations on a Theme.” The epilogue takes place two weeks after “You Can Save that Drama for Another Day.” Confused yet? I am.

Yes, this fic is named after the [Jackson Five song](%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYexVjOjGYA%E2%80%9D). The Jackson Five were awesome, and I will love them until the day I die.

Relevant to this chapter: I've come to the realization that Sulu is the only sane person of the seven main characters, and he would also be pretty genre-savvy as well. Think about it. As such, he gets to do several things in this story he deserves. Also it tends to freak people out when the caretaker does careless things.

I made up the shit about Uhura having a brother and Chekov having three sisters. Scotty does canonically have a sister and nephew in TOS, though. HEY RODDENBERRY MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE I DON'T KNOW DEVELOPED SOMEONE OTHER THAN KIRK SPOCK AND MCCOY JUST SAYING.

The song that plays when Jim enters the party is [“Funny Little Frog”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvS902DLEVI) by Belle and Sebastian. When he is talking to Spock, et al, it's totally [“Bad Romance”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I) by Lady GaGa. When he is talking to Bones and they go outside, the song playing is [“Don't Let Me Down,”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O7PnvVgQvA) by the Beatles. At least, that's how it plays out in the movie of my brain.

...I just realized I use no hip-hop for that sequence of events and I really should have. Oh well.

Hikaru Sulu gently maneuvered the Enterprise into space dock on one-quarter impulse power.

The ship's software was going to be updated, and new technology called replicators were going to be installed in the mess hall. Scotty was practically drooling over the schematics he had been sent. The crew was being given ten days for shore leave and everyone was excited about being home.

They pretty much all had their plans. Uhura had decided that turnabout was fair play and was taking Spock to Africa to meet her parents and brother. Chekov was excited to go home to Russia to see his father and sisters and the snow. Scotty was heading back to Glasgow to see his sister and nephew. And so on.

Sulu had called ahead to make some special arrangements of his own, as the day they were docking was his twenty-second birthday. Fortunately Fallout, a bar local to Starfleet headquarters, had been available for a private party and he had booked it immediately after finding out.

He was celebrating twenty-two in style if it killed him.

The entire crew was invited, and so far all of the big names had given positive RSVPs. Chekov had insisted on handling the cake arrangements, which he was okay with as long as Pavel didn't try to bake it himself. The poor kid couldn't even boil water properly without ending up in the hospital and McCoy had said he wasn't treating him for burns anymore as he wouldn't learn if he kept being rewarded.

Sulu privately thought that he was completely justified in doing so, but didn't feel like arguing with Pavel about it.

While he was thinking about the doctor, there was that little problem concerning Kirk's feelings for him and what he had done about them. Or rather, what he _hadn't_ done about them.

Sulu stole a glance at the captain, who was currently talking Spock's ears off about something McCoy had said recently that really...wasn't all that interesting now that he was eavesdropping. But Kirk was incredibly animated, his face was flushed slightly and his eyes were happy. It was the same look he had every other time he talked to or about the doctor and it was driving everyone else absolutely _nuts_.

Going by the way the doctor acted, he honestly had no idea that his best friend's feelings for him had graduated into a love-type thing. Which meant one of two things; either the doctor was hilariously clueless or the doctor was being willfully ignorant.

He looked up from his console over to Uhura's station and she met his gaze. She looked at Kirk for a moment, then looked back at him and rolled her eyes. He nodded once and then shrugged.

The five of them not named Kirk or McCoy had been having meetings about it for God's sake. It was just...sad.

Chekov had suggested setting up a fake hostage situation and making it look like one of them would be killed, but none of them really felt like getting court-martialed. Scotty suggested “accidentally” disabling the locks in one of their quarters until they were forced to deal with it. Uhura had suggested ambushing them both with a romantic vacation. Spock had suggested just talking to them, an idea which everyone else had written off as ludicrous.

Hikaru sighed.

Worst case scenario, they had their back-up plan of the sex pollen.

All he knew for sure were two things: something needed to give _soon_ and his party was going to rock.

\-----

By the time Jim found his way to the party, Fallout was packed with the majority of the Enterprise's four-hundred and thirty crew members. Loud music was playing over the bar's speaker system, a classical group that Jim recognized as Belle and Sebastian.

 _Drinks first_ , he decided, _then finding people_. He slowly made his way through the crowd, stopping here or there to make pleasantries with several crew members. At last, he reached his destination where he found Uhura, Spock, Chekov, Scotty, and the birthday boy ordering drinks.

Sulu downed a shot of what he assumed was tequila as it was followed quickly by him sucking a lime wedge. “Captain, great to see you! Having fun?”

“Yeah this is great.” Jim yelled over the music. “I'll take a double shot of Jack.” He handed the bartender several credits.

“Same here,” Uhura called. “But I've got mine.” She also handed some credits over. The two shots were placed in front of them and they each took one. “They sure are playing some old music tonight,” she said as her and Jim clinked shot glasses. She quickly downed her double, Jim holding on to his for a moment as he looked around the crowd.

“Ah that's my doing,” Sulu shrugged as he took his own tequila shot and then sucked a lime thoughtfully. Scotty raised an eyebrow.

“You asked them to play this stuff?”

“Everyone knows,” Hikaru said authoritatively, “that all music made after the year 2131 is crap. Of particular note from the early twenty-first century are the genres called rap and hip-hop. Outkast, for example, was quite revolutionary both for their story-telling abilities and lack of the production technique that was then known as sampling. The song 'Roses,' which seemingly has its lyrics steeped in misogyny, is actually a very complicated morality play told in a six minute rhyme scheme by Andre 3000...”

Chekov sighed.

Not again.

As he lived with Sulu, he had heard this lecture about seven times. It pretty much only happened when Sulu was loaded, which he was well on his way to being. It was new to everyone else, however, and Spock looked utterly fascinated. Jim took his shot when a certain someone caught his eye on the other side of the room.

Bones was standing with Geoff and Christine facing Jim. He was wearing a long-sleeved dark green shirt and was laughing at something that one of the others had said. From even this distance, Jim knew that shirt probably made his eyes look more green than usual, and his hair was slightly mussed. He looked amazing and Jim felt the all-too-familiar pangs of longing he had begun to associate with his best friend.

It was ridiculous.

Ever since he had become conscious of the depth of his feelings for his CMO, he felt like his life had been this precarious edge of trying to show how he felt with also trying desperately _not_ to show how he felt. Jim felt like it was stamped all over his forehead but he thought he was keeping his cool fairly well around other people. He was having a hard time sleeping because when he did he was having all of these dreams about Bones and sunset dinners. He had this nervous fluttering in his stomach all of the time, especially when Bones was physically in front of him. His heart would skip when he saw him. He was even having difficulty eating sometimes. He had never, ever felt like this before in his life and it was _awful_.

If this was what being in love was like, well, it could just fuck right off.

“...'What happens when the dough gets low,' indeed,” Sulu finally finished. “I know Kirk agrees with me, he's a big hip-hop fan. Right, Kirk?”

The captain, still too taken by his friend's appearance, didn't respond.

Sulu frowned. Oh come _on_. “Kirk?”

“Hm?” Jim didn't look away from Bones. “Sorry?”

“That's it.” He snapped his fingers right in Jim's eyes, startling him out of his reverie. “I've had enough.”

The captain blinked. “What the hell, Sulu?”

“Hikaru...what are you doing?” Chekov whispered.

“With all due respect, _sir_ ,” Sulu hissed. “Would you just _ask him out already_? You've become totally annoying.” He signaled to the bartender for another shot, and everyone else stared at him in alarm.

“I...” Jim faked a laugh. “I'm sure I don't know what you mean.”

Sulu took his shot and sucked another lime before continuing. “Your incredibly huge and shiny, sparkly feelings of love for your best friend. We get it. We're _over_ it. Just, God, just _shit or get off the pot_.” The new shot was ready and instead of drinking it, he just held it in his hand. “Now I'm going to go find Riley and enjoy the rest of my party.” And with that, he was off.

No one knew which was worse; the fact that apparently Sulu of all people had lost his temper or the fact that Sulu had just cursed for the first time in...well, ever, really.

Scotty and Uhura looked at each other for a moment while Chekov eyed the captain warily. Jim was frozen with a horrified look on his face.

“We...” How to do this delicately? “We weren't going to say anything, but I don't think any of us were prepared for how...honest Sulu gets when he's drinking,” Scotty began.

“I was, I have been on receiving end of it before,” Chekov mumbled to no one in particular.

“You...all knew?”

For the life of him, Jim could not understand why his friends all looked at him with such completely bewildered expressions at that.

“Okay. Um. It's possible that you are not aware of exactly how obvious you are?” Uhura gave him a sympathetic half-smile. “But you are... _really_ obvious.”

“Indeed.” Spock nodded.

“No, I'm not.” Jim bit his lip. Denial, Jim was a big fan of that lately. He and denial were getting to be good drinking buddies. Which was okay, because denial was pretty awesome.

“You talk about him incessantly.” Uhura shrugged. “Even when he hasn't been brought up by someone else.”

“You stare at him when you think he's not looking,” Scotty supplied helpfully.

“Get certain face when he is in the room,” Chekov added.

Oh great. So it _was_ stamped all over his face.

“You broke several dozen Starfleet regulations as well as calling in no less than five favors in order to provide him with a chance to spend time with his daughter on his birthday.” Spock noted.

“Also get jealous when one of us spends time with him outside of work,” Chekov mentioned somewhat grudgingly. It had put something of a damper on the Halo co-op nights.

“You stopped hitting on me, even as a joke, months ago.” Uhura tried not to look too happy about that.

“Come to mention it, when was the last time you had a one night stand?” Scotty rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I mean, your tom-catting around looms rather large in your legend, so the fact that you've stopped is a rather big deal.”

Spock raised an eyebrow. “Your concern over his well-being while he was healing the Horta was completely disproportionate to the injury he could have sustained.”

Chekov sipped his vodka and dropped the most damning evidence of all. “Visibly brighten when you make him smile.”

So much for keeping it quiet.

“He doesn't know...does he?” Jim glanced over at Bones again, who was still wrapped up in whatever was being said. This time, the doctor noticed and nodded a greeting to him. Jim half-heartedly waved back.

“Not a clue,” Scotty chirped.

“Okay good.” Jim sighed. “Can we keep it that way?”

There was a loaded silence between the other four.

“Jim,” Spock finally spoke. “It is rather unlike you to miss a point so completely.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Tell him how you feel.” Uhura had a full smile on her face now. “Tell him and let him decide what to do.”

Yeah that was a big old no. “Out of the question, he doesn't do this. The romance stuff, I mean.”

“Of course he does,” Scotty said. “Or rather, he will. He just needs to be with the right person.”

“Yeah but...I mean I'm not...he doesn't...” This was going to hurt to admit. “I'm pretty sure he doesn't want me back.”

Chekov placed a hand on Jim's shoulder. “Doctor likes very few things. You are one. You will be fine.”

Jim looked one final time at his best friend, before turning back to them. “I don't know. I don't want to lose him if you're wrong.”

“While I have never read Doctor McCoy's thoughts on the subject, I believe that you shall not as long as you act with decisiveness.” Spock was as serious as always, but there was a gentleness to it that Jim had only seen him display with Uhura. “It is only logical that you try.”

Scotty nodded his agreement. “There's really nothing for you to lose.” Chekov and Scotty ran off together to find Sulu, Spock not too far behind. Uhura stopped and placed a hand on his shoulder, which made him look up.

“We're rooting for you.” She nodded once, and then she too was gone, leaving Jim alone with his thoughts.

They did have a point, nothing was going to be resolved if he didn't make some sort of move. But he had also never been in this place before and it was nerve-wracking. What he needed was some kind of plan, but he had no idea where to even begin.

“Well, that looked serious,” a familiar voice called from behind him. He turned to face Bones, who was smirking a little. “Bit of an informal atmosphere for a staff meeting.”

The doctor looked as good up close as he did from across the room, damn him. It took Jim a moment to collect himself enough to half-lie. “We were just talking about how wasted Sulu is.”

“That's ridiculous, Sulu doesn't get drunk.” Bones rolled his eyes.

“Attention everyone! I have an announcement!” Standing up on one of the bar's balconies, Sulu's voice echoed throughout the room. The crowd immediately became silent. “IT IS MY BIRTHDAY AND I AM A GOLDEN GOD!” A loud cheer went up from the partygoers as he then dove off the balcony and was caught quite easily by a group from engineering. He then began crowd surfing with aplomb.

Jim raised both of his eyebrows while Bones attempted to pick his jaw up from off of the floor.

“Well, shit,” McCoy finally managed. “What should we do?”

“You know what? Nothing.” Jim watched as Chekov also began crowd surfing and hit his best friend a high five as they passed each other. “He deserves a night to cut loose.” _He also deserves a nasty hangover_ Jim barely managed to restrain himself from saying it out loud. “Anyways, how are you?”

Bones shrugged. “I keep going back and forth on if I'm too old for this or what.” He gestured around them, and they noticed that Spock had somehow been conned into crowd surfing. He didn't look too thrilled about it. Both men blinked at that for a moment. “Then again, this just may be the best party I've ever attended.” He took a sip of his bourbon and Jim watched him, transfixed, for a moment. Bones quickly noticed the attention and stopped with the glass by his mouth. “What?”

“What?” Jim echoed.

“You had this look on your face. It...never mind.” Bones finished off his highball. “I probably imagined it.”

Shit, he really _was_ obvious. Time to lie like the wind!

“I'm just tired. Had a long meeting after we docked.”

Bones nodded, clearly accepting this as an answer, and sat his empty glass on the bar. He gestured to the door. “You want to get out of here?”

Jim's eyes widened. He couldn't possibly...

“I'm beat up, too. I spent all day getting sick bay prepared for those upgrades.”

Oh right. Of course. “Sure.”

The two made their way out of the bar, the door swinging closed behind them and drowning out the noise. Starfleet was housing the both of them for the night, so they slowly began to head back in that direction.

Bones shivered and put his hands in his pockets. “Forgot about the weather here,” he groused.

“It's never been as bad as you make it out to be,” Jim said playfully.

“Of course you wouldn't think so, Iowa may as well be the Arctic circle as far as I'm concerned. It's down-right inhuman is what it is. Give me the artificial climate control of the _Enterprise_ or better yet, Savannah this time of year any day.”

Jim clucked his tongue once. Speaking of Savannah... “So, when's your shuttle leave?”

“The deathtrap takes off at 1600 tomorrow.” The use of “deathtrap” made Jim smile. Bones was cute when he was neurotic and slightly insane. To be fair, he really just thought Bones was cute in general. The point still stood. “You never told me if you decided to head back home.”

The smiling stopped. “Nah. Thought I'd hang out here, take it easy for the next few days. Pike and I are having lunch tomorrow but other than that I have nothing planned.”

Bones stopped walking. “You're staying here alone?”

Jim shrugged. “Well not really alone, like I said Pike and I will be catching up. And Sulu lives here, so maybe I'll give him a ring at some point.”

“Or you could come with me.”

It was Jim's turn to stop. “I'm sorry?”

“Come with me to Savannah. Sure, Uncle Johnny is going to put you to work but the weather is perfect. The land's beautiful. And you've never been there, so I could finally show you around my hometown.”

His heart thudding, Jim looked at his friend in surprise. Bones looked back at him, obviously expecting an answer.

“I'd be imposing...”

“No, you wouldn't. The house is huge and we could probably use the extra hands.” Bones half-smiled with an eyebrow raised. “I mean, he's a hardass so don't expect to just sit back and lay in the sun.” His face turned serious. “Look, I'm not letting you sit here by yourself doing nothing.”

Jim continued to look at Bones, before finally answering with “Okay.”

“Excellent. Thanks for making it easy on me. I'm in a good mood for once, so I didn't honestly feel like arguing. Like I said, death trap leaves at 1600. Don't be late.” They began to walk once more in companionable silence.

Jim began to think. Spending this time with Bones was going to be tricky; he was going to have to really watch himself to make sure he didn't slip up.

This was also something of an opportunity, now that he thought more about it. He could use this time to do some research, figure out a way to approach the whole dating thing with Bones in a way that would work in his favor. Maybe he could even put some feelers out while they were in Georgia. It could be a little risky, but it was something.

And maybe his friends were right, if Bones was offering for them to spend a vacation together, maybe he did really have a shot at this.

As his plan began to form, Jim began to smile, a serene smile that he didn't often wear. Bones glanced at him oddly.

“What?”

He nudged the doctor's shoulder with his own. “Nothing. Just wondering if you're going to puke on me again.”

“Oh shut up.”

  
  
[McCoy](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/23374.html) | [Epilogue](http://ken-ichijouji.livejournal.com/24038.html)


End file.
